Game Details
(1) No. 20 South Florida 64, (2) UCF 54
South Florida (18-3), Tulane (16-4)
Thursday, March 11, 2021 | 10 p.m. ET | ESPNU
American Athletic Conference Championship Game
Fort Worth, Texas | Dickies Arena
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) (March 11, 2021) — Elena Tsineke scored 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, Sydni Harvey made six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points, and No. 20 South Florida beat UCF 64-54 on Thursday night for the first American Athletic Conference Tournament championship in program history.
It was the Bulls’ fifth appearance in the title game, having lost to Connecticut in the championship from 2015-18.
Also, Elisa Pinzan scored 15 points and Bethy Mununga had another big night on the boards, grabbing 16 rebounds. Over the Bulls’ three games, Mununga grabbed a total of 49 rebounds, setting a new conference tournament record.
Harvey was named tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging a team-high 16.0 points per game during the championship. Tsineke, the championship game leading scorer, and Mununga joined Harvey on the All-Tournament Team.
Top-seeded South Florida (18-3) earned an NCAA Tournament berth for the fifth time in the last seven years.
Harvey hit two of her four first-quarter 3s in an 8-0 run that gave USF the lead for good made it 18-11 going into the second and the Bulls held UCF scoreless for five-plus minutes during a 16-2 spurt that pushed the lead to 20 points just before halftime.
Diamond Battles led the second-seeded Knights (16-4) with 18 points and Masseny Kaba scored 16.
The Knights scored the final 12 points of the third quarter and the first six of the fourth to trim their deficit to 51-45 with 6:38 to play but they got no closer.
The Bulls outscored UCF 27-3 from 3-point range and made three more free throws (17) than the Knights attempted.
USF athletics communications contributed to this story.
Notable
- USF’s American Athletic Conference Tournament title is the first basketball conference tournament championship since the men’s team won the Metro Conference Tournament championship during the 1989-90 season, 81-74 over Charlotte on March 5, 1990.
- South Florida’s win improves the Bulls’ record in the American Athletic Conference Tournament to 14-7 all-time.
- South Florida’s win over UCF improves the Bulls’ record against the Knights to 30-14 all-time … USF, however, has won 24 of the last 30 games against UCF.
- Also, Mununga’s 16 rebounds marked her 17th double-figure rebounding game of the season and the 34th of her career.
Up Next
The Bulls now await their seeding in the NCAA Tournament when the Selection Show takes place on Monday.
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 –
