Elena Tsineke pours in 19 points while leading five players in double figures.
Game Details
USF 81, East Carolina 52
USF (17-11, 9-5 in AAC), East Carolina (8-19, 4-9 in AAC)
Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 | 7 p.m. | ADN
Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
TAMPA (Feb. 25, 2020) – The University of South Florida women’s basketball team turned a one-point deficit at the end of the first quarter into a 20-point advantage at halftime as the Bulls rolled to an 81-52 win over East Carolina at the Yuengling Center on Tuesday night. The win improves USF to 17-11 on the year and 9-5 in The American. The Pirates fall to 8-19 overall and 4-9 in conference play.
Elena Tsineke (Thessaloniki, Greece) scored a team-high 19 points while Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.) had 14 points and Shae Leverett (Rincon, Ga.) tallied 13 in the victory. Leverett also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and the seventh of her career.
In addition, Beatriz Jordao (Pombal, Portugal) and Elisa Pinzan (Murano, Italy) scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.
After trailing 17-16 at the end of the first quarter, the Bulls outscored ECU, 31-10, in the second behind Tsineke’s 12 second quarter points. Tsineke, who was playing against her twin sister, Katerina, had 16 points in the first 20 minutes of play.
USF took a 47-27 halftime lead and extended the advantage to as many as 34 midway through the fourth quarter never allowing the Pirates to challenge after the first quarter.
East Carolina’s damage was limited to only two people as Lashonda Monk (23) and Taniyah Thompson (16) scored 30 of the Pirates’ 52 points.
For the game, USF shot 41.5 percent (27-for-65) from the field and a near prefect 90.0 percent (20-for-22) from the free-throw line.
Score By Quarters
1 2 3 4 F
USF 16 31 23 11 81
ECU 17 10 15 10 52
Key Stats
50 – The Bulls recorded 50 rebounds on Tuesday night against East Carolina, marking the fifth time this season that they recorded 50 or more, and the first time since hauling down 51 against Idaho on Dec. 15.
36-22 – USF dominated the points in the paint category, outscoring the Pirates, 36-22, in the lane.
Notable
- Tonight’s starters for the Bulls were: G Elisa Pinzan, G Elena Tsineke, F Shae Leverett, W Sydni Harvey and F Bethy Mununga (Zellik, Belgium) … The Bulls are 3-2 with this lineup.
- USF outrebounded Memphis, 50-20, which marks the 27th time in 28 games that the Bulls have outrebounded their opponent.
- Shae Leverett’s 13 points and 11 rebounds marks her second double-double of the season and the seventh of her career.
- Tamara Henshaw grabbed seven rebounds against East Carolina and now has 872 for her career … She is currently in sixth place on the school’s career rebounding list … Next up, in fifth place, is Maria Jespersen (2014-18) with 891 career rebounds.
- Henshaw played in her 129th career game on Tuesday against ECU, and is in sole possession of seventh after surpassing Tiffany Conner (2009-13) and Jessica Dickson (2003-07) against UConn on Feb. 16 … She is currently one game shy of equaling Akila McDonald (2010-14) for sixth.
- Bethy Mununga grabbed 10 rebounds against the Pirates for her 14th double-figure rebounding performance of her USF career.
Up Next
The Bulls will close out the regular season portion of their home schedule against SMU on Saturday at 7 p.m. (BullsVision). The game with the Mustangs will be Senior Night as the Green and Gold recognize their lone senior, Tamara Henshaw.
USF closes out the regular season on March 2 at 7 p.m., when it travels to Hartford to face UConn at the XL Center as part of Big Monday on ESPN2.
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 eighth consecutive 19-win season and eighth straight postseason appearance in 2018-19. The Bulls celebrated two all-conference honorees in Enna Pehadzic and Sydni Harvey.
USF has made 15 postseason tournament appearances and had six NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez’s 19 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 –
