The winner will advance to the semifinals on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
TAMPA (March 8, 2021) – The No. 20-ranked, and top-seeded, University of South Florida women’s basketball team begins play in the 2021 Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Championship on Tuesday when it faces the No. 9 seed Wichita State in the quarterfinals. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. ET at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, and the game can be seen live on ESPN+. The Shockers defeated eighth-seeded Tulsa, 76-64, in the first round on Monday.
The Bulls (15-3, 13-2* American Athletic Conference) won their first conference regular-season title on March 2, with their thrilling 65-62 win over UCF in the Yuengling Center, earning a first-round bye.
Tuesday’s meeting will be the second of the season between the two schools with USF handing Wichita State a 66-48 loss on Jan. 6 on the road.
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GAME 19 | TUE., MARCH 9 | 3 P.M. ET | ESPN+
AAC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS | FORT WORTH, TEXAS | DICKIES ARENA
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
TV/Video: ESPN+
Sam Gore (PxP), Christy Thomaskutty (Analyst)
Audio: Bulls Unlimited (iHeartRadio/GoUSFBulls.com)
Darek Sharp (PxP)
Live Stats: GoUSFBulls.com
Twitter Updates: @USFWBB
(1) No. 20 USF BULLS | 15-3 (13-2, AAC)
Last Game: March 4 at UCF, L, 58-45
Next Game: March 10 vs. 8 Tulsa / 9 Wichita State at AAC Semifinals (if nec.), 5:30 p.m. ET
Head Coach: Jose Fernandez
Alma Mater: FIU, 1994
Career Record: 388-275 (21st season)
at USF: Same
(9) WICHITA STATE SHOCKERS | 6-11 (2-9, AAC)
Last Game: March 2 at Tulsa, W, 85-77 (OT)
Next Game: March 10 vs. USF (if nec.), 5:30 p.m. ET
Head Coach: Keitha Adams
Alma Mater: Southwestern, 1989
Career Record: 331-270 (20th season)
at Wichita State: 47-61 (Fourth season)
* The American Athletic Conference declared a forfeit win for USF against Memphis for conference-standings purposes only as a result of the scheduled game from Jan. 17. See page 8 for more details.
QUICK HITS
– No. 1 seed USF opens its eighth AAC Tourney, earning a first-round bye into the quarterfinals.
– The Bulls are 12-7 all-time in the event.
– USF looks for its first conference tourney title.
– Elena Tsineke leads USF in scoring (12.8) while Bethy Mununga and Sydni Harvey are second (11.2).
– Bethy Mununga is grabbing 12.7 rebounds per game and has 10 double-doubles on the year.
THE SERIES AGAINST WICHITA STATE
Tuesday’s meeting with Wichita State marks just the sixth meeting between USF and Wichita State with the Bulls holding a 3-2 series lead, dating back to the 1982-83 season … USF, however, leads the series, 3-1, with both schools as members of The American … Tuesday would be the first-ever meeting between the Bulls and Shockers in the AAC Tournament.
UP NEXT FOR USF
– The winner of the USF vs. Tulsa/Wichita State quarterfinal game on Tuesday will face the winner of the quarterfinal game between fourth-seeded Tulane and the five-seed Temple on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. ET … The winner of that contest advances to the American Athletic Conference Championship game on Thursday at 10 p.m. on ESPNU.
About USF Women’s Basketball
To stay up-to-date on the latest USF women’s basketball news, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).
USF notched its ninth consecutive 19-win season and was poised for its ninth straight postseason appearance in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the end of the college basketball season. The Bulls celebrated two all-conference honorees in Elena Tsineke and Elisa Pinzan. Tsineke was named the American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, in addition to The American All-Freshman Team and Third Team All-Conference; while Pinzan was named a Third Team All-Conference selection.
USF has made 15 postseason tournament appearances and had six NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez’s 20 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to nine 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship and won more than 350 games.
– #GoBulls –
