USF Gets 2020 Off to a Good Start With 76-68 Win Over Cincinnati

The Bulls place four players in double figures, led by Elena Tsineke’s 19 points, in getting their first AAC win; Tamara Henshaw becomes eighth player in program history to grab 800 career boards. 

Game Details

USF 76, Cincinnati 68

USF (9-6, 1-0 AAC), Cincinnati (9-5, 0-1 AAC)

Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020 | 2 p.m. | ESPN2

Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center

TAMPA (Jan. 5, 2020) – The University of South Florida women’s basketball team got the new decade off to the start that it had hoped to, remaining undefeated at home and getting a win in its American Athletic Conference opener, as the Bulls defeated Cincinnati, 76-68, at the Yuengling Center on Sunday afternoon. USF improves to 9-6 on the year while the Bearcats fall to 9-5 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

The Bulls placed four players in double figures in the scoring column led by Elena Tsineke (Thessaloniki, Greece), and her career-high tying 19 points, and 18 points from Sydni Harvey (Nashville, Tenn.). Bethy Mununga (Zellik, Belgium) added 16 points and Kristyna Brabencova (Brno, Czech Republic) chipped in with 10 points in the win. Mununga and Tamara Henshaw (Palm Coast, Fla.) each grabbed a game-high seven rebounds, while Brabencova had six rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Henshaw’s fourth rebound of the afternoon gave her 800 for her career, making her just the eighth player in program history to reach the 800-career rebound plateau. She finished the game with 803 for her career.

Cincinnati led by as many as three points, 11-8, with just over four minutes left in the first quarter, however, the Bulls closed out the first 10 minutes of play on a 12-3 run to take a 20-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

After leading at the intermission, 41-34, USF pushed its lead to double figures in the third quarter, and by as many as 14, 58-44, with just over three minutes left to play, on a driving layup by Maria Alvarez (Miami, Fla.). That would be Alvarez’s only basket of the day as she went down with a leg injury shortly after. Cincinnati cut the Bulls’ lead to as few as six points, four times in the final 2:36 of the fourth quarter, however could not get any closer. USF hit all four of its free throws in the final 22 seconds to secure the win.

Score By Quarters

                               1              2              3              4              F

USF                       20           21           19           16           76         

Cincinnati           14           20           14           20           68   

Key Stats

17-20 – USF outrebounded its opponent for the 15th time in 15 games this season, 40-27, with 17 of the 40 rebounds coming on the offensive glass … The 17 offensive rebounds led to 20 second chance points against UC, as the Bulls held a 17-8 advantage on the offensive boards.

Lucky 13 – The backcourt tandem of Sydni Harvey (6-for-6) and Elena Tsineke (7-for-7) combined for a perfect 13-for-13 from the charity stripe against Cincinnati, including Harvey’s 4-for-4 in the final 22 seconds of play.

20-2 – The Bulls’ bench had a considerable advantage over the Bearcats with USF’s reserves outscoring Cincinnati’s 20-2 in the win. 

Notable

  • Today’s starters for the Bulls were: G Maria Alvarez, G Elena Tsineke, F Tamara Henshaw, W Kristyna Brabencova and F Bethy Mununga … The Bulls are 1-1 with this lineup.
  • USF won its sixth straight conference opener, and improved to 6-1 in AAC openers … The Bulls are 11-9 in league openers under Jose Fernandez.
  • The Bulls’ win over Cincinnati improves them to 32-11 all-time in AAC games at home.
  • Elena Tsineke’s career-high tying 19 points marks the freshman’s eighth double-figure scoring performance in her 10 games played with the Bulls.
  • Kristyna Brabencova has scored in double figures in four of her last six games after netting double digits in one of the first nine … She is averaging 10.7 points per game over those six games.  
  • In addition to her 10 points, Brabencova also dropped a career-high seven assists, against Cincinnati, surpassing her previous best of three, set three times, the last coming against Alabama State on Dec. 6.
  • Tamara Henshaw’s five-game double-figure rebounding streak came to an end on Sunday, however the senior did become the eighth player in program history to grab 800 career rebounds … She is now just 20 rebounds shy of joining Nalini Miller (2003-07) in seventh all-time with 823 … Henshaw is averaging 11.2 rebounds per game in her last six outings.
  • Henshaw played in her 116th career game on Sunday against Cincinnati … She surpassed Nalini Miller (2003-07) and Jasmine Wynne (2008-12) for sole possession of 13th all-time in career games played … She is now four games shy of tying Rachel Sheats (2003-07) and Porche Grant (2006-09, 10-11) for 11th all-time in school history with 120.

Up Next

The Bulls now hit the road for two straight games, beginning at Tulsa on Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network). USF closes out the back-to-back road tilts at Temple on Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. The Bulls will return to the Yuengling Center on Jan. 19, when they face UCF in the first of two editions of the “War on I-4.” Tip-off against the Knights is slated for 3 p.m. (ESPN2).

About USF Women’s Basketball

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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.

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