Game Details
RV/23 South Florida 73, Central Florida 44
USF (23-5, 12-1 AAC), Central Florida (11-12, 2-9 AAC)
Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023 | 7 p.m. | ESPN+
Orlando, Fla. | Addition Financial Arena
ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 15, 2023) — On a night that was being billed as the Central Florida Knights’ Space Game, it was the University of South Florida women’s basketball team that played out of this world as the Bulls dominated its rival to close out the regular season edition of the War on I-4 with a 73-44 victory at Addition Financial Arena Wednesday night. South Florida improves to 23-5 on the year and 12-1 in the American Athletic Conference. Central Florida falls to 11-12 overall and 2-9 in The American.
In addition, with the Bulls’ win, and Houston’s 45-44 loss to Memphis, South Florida has earned at least a share of The American regular season championship and will look to win the title outright with a win on Saturday against SMU (4:30 p.m. ESPN+). A regular season championship would be the Green and Gold’s second in the last three years.
The win is also the Bulls’ 13th in the last 14 games.
Elena Tsineke led the way for South Florida with 19 points and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu added 18 points and 14 rebounds in the win. Sammie Puisis chipped in with 12 points while Carla Brito grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds.
The Bulls jumped out on top of the Knights right from the opening tip and never looked back. South Florida used an 8-0 run to end the first quarter and take a 17-9 lead after 10 minutes and then a 10-0 stretch in the second to extend its lead to 38-15 at the break. The Green and Gold outscored Central Florida in the second stanza, 21-6, while shooting 57.1 percent from the field (8-of-14) and holding the Knights to a dismal 8.3 percent (1-of-12) from the floor.
The Bulls pushed their lead to as many as 32 points at the end of the third quarter when Tsineke hit a jumper with 35 seconds left to make the score 61-29.
Central Florida had visions of a galactic-type comeback, cutting the South Florida lead to 21 points, 61-40, with just over seven minutes left in the contest. The Bulls, however, closed out the game by scoring 12 of the final 16 points en route to the win.
South Florida controlled the boards, outrebounding the Knights, 47-33, and grabbed 10 offensive rebounds leading to 18 second-chance points. The Bulls also controlled the inside game outscoring Central Florida, 36-16, in points in the paint.
Notable
- Wednesday’s starters for the Bulls were: G Elena Tsineke, G Aerial Wilson, F Sammie Puisis, F Carla Brito and F Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu … South Florida is 21-5 with this lineup.
- The win over Central Florida improves the Bulls’ record against the Knights to 32-17 in the all-time series.
- Elena Tsineke’s 19 points against Central Florida mark her 83rd career double-figure scoring game in her 107th career game with the Bulls.
- Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu’s 18 points and 18 rebounds mark her 53rd career double-double and her 28th in a South Florida uniform.
- In addition to Fankam Mendjiadeu’s double-double, she also tied her career-high with four assists.
- Carla Brito tied her career-high with three steals.
Up Next
The Bulls return to the Yuengling Center for the final two home games of the regular season, beginning on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. when they host SMU (ESPN+). South Florida closes out its non-conference home slate on Feb. 22 against Tulsa for Senior Night. Game time against the Golden Hurricane is slated for 7 p.m. (ESPN+).
The Bulls will wrap up their regular season schedule at Cincinnati on March 1 at 7 p.m. (ESPN+), before heading to the American Athletic Conference Tournament, March 6-9, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
Catch The Bulls on Bulls Unlimited & ESPN+
The majority of USF’s regular-season games will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform. The American Athletic Conference and ESPN began a new 12-year television rights agreement which started in 2020-21. Subscriptions for the ESPN+ app are $9.99 monthly or $99.99 annually and can be packaged with Hulu and Disney+ streaming services. A step-by-step guide for subscribing to ESPN+ is located here.
In addition, all games this season will be broadcast live on USF Bulls Unlimited, with Darek Sharp (home and away) and Brigid Merenda (for home games only) on the call. Bulls Unlimited is available via the free Tune In app (search “Bulls Unlimited’’) and provides static-free quality whether you’re listening on your streaming device, laptop or desktop.
About USF Women’s Basketball
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South Florida recorded its 10th 20-win season during the 2021-22 campaign while playing in its sixth American Athletic Conference championship game in its nine years in the conference. The Bulls achieved their highest national ranking of the season when it checked in at No. 13 in the Nov. 30 Associated Press Top 25 Poll, and advanced to their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in the last nine years.
USF has made 17 postseason tournament appearances and had eight NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez’s 22 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to 10 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship, and has won over 400 career games. Fernandez was named a finalist for the WBCA and semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Awards. He was also tabbed the 2021 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the 2020-21 campaign.
In 2021-22, the Bulls had three players recognized by The American for impressive seasons, including Elena Tsineke (All-Conference First Team), Bethy Mununga (All-Conference Second Team) and Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu (All-Conference Second Team).
In addition, Tsineke and Mununga were named to the American Athletic Conference All-Tournament Team.
–#GoBulls –
