Elisa Pinzan logs her first career double-double in the upset win with 14 points and career high 11 boards
Game Details
RV/RV USF 67, No. 6 Mississippi State 63 (OT)
USF (2-1), Mississippi State (2-2)
Saturday, Dec. 5, 2020 | 7 p.m. | ESPN+
Tampa, Fla. | Yuengling Center
TAMPA, Fla. (Dec. 5, 2020) (AP) — Mississippi State got schooled by South Florida.
Elisa Pinzan scored two of her team-high 14 points on late free throws in overtime, and South Florida beat No. 6 Mississippi State 67-63 on Saturday night.
Bethy Mununga hit two free throws with 28.9 seconds left in OT to give South Florida a 65-63 lead.
Mississippi State’s Aliyah Matharu missed a layup and failed to score after getting her own rebound before Pinzan pushed the lead to the final four-point margin, hitting two free throws with 5.4 seconds to go.
Eight players scored to help USF (2-1) beat its first top-10 ranked opponent.
“It’s a great big win,” USF coach Jose Fernandez said.
Rickea Jackson scored 18 points for Mississippi State (2-1). Matharu finished with 17 and Jessika Carter added 15.
South Florida, considered a frontrunner in the American Athletic Conference following the departure of UConn to the Big East, completed a short stretch of consecutive games against teams ranked among the top six. The Bulls were coming off a 67-62 loss to No. 4 Baylor on Tuesday.
“This is huge, especially how we played Baylor,” Fernandez said. “It was a game of runs. We got the stops we needed to.”
A tight fourth quarter saw the teams trade one-point leads before the session ended tied at 60.
After the Bulldogs took a six-point advantage in the third, Maria Alvarez hit a pair of 3′s as USF went on an 11-0 run and took a 52-47 lead entering the fourth quarter.
Matharu had a three-point play as Mississippi State opened the second half with a 7-0 run to up 38-36.
Sydni Harvey and Pinzan had seven points each as South Florida took a 36-31 at the half. The Bulls outscored Mississippi State 25-12 in the second quarter and held the Bulldogs without a field goal for seven minutes.
Mississippi State went 12 of 20 from the line in the first half, while USF converted 5 of 6 attempts.
Key Stats
21-12 – The Bulls created problems for the Bulldogs on the defensive end of the floor, forcing Mississippi State into 21 turnovers on the night, leading to a 25-9 points off turnover advantage in the win.
22 – USF got 22 points from its bench in the win, primarily from a combined 18 points from Maria Alvarez (Bal Harbour, Fla.) and Kristyna Brabencova (Brno, Czech Republic), with nine points apiece.
23-19 – Despite being edged out on the glass, 48-47, the Bulls held the advantage on the offensive boards, outrebounding the Bulldogs, 23-10, leading to 25 second chance points.
Notable
- Today’s starters for the Bulls were: G Elisa Pinzan, G Elena Tsineke, G Sydni Harvey, F Shae Leverett, and F Bethy Mununga … The Bulls are 2-1 with this lineup.
- With its win over Mississippi State, USF levels its record against the Bulldogs at 2-2.
- In addition, the victory over the Bulldogs marks the highest ranked opponent that the Bulls have defeated, surpassing DePaul on Dec. 7, 2005 (79-77 ot) and Louisville on Feb. 20, 2013 (73-62). Both were ranked No. 11 in the nation.
- Saturday’s win improved the Bulls to 27-12 all-time in overtime games, and was their third straight extra session win … Included in that streak were victories over Dayton (93-87) on Dec. 20, 2017 and at UCF (77-68) on Feb. 18, 2018 … It was also USF’s fourth overtime win in its last five.
- The Bulls are 38-3 in nonconference games at home over the last six years … USF has won 23-of-24 nonconference games, and 35 of its last 37, with the only losses coming to Louisville, during the 2016-17 season, and Baylor on Dec. 1.
- Pinzan’s 14-point and career high 11-rebound double-double marked the first of her career … She also fell just one assist shy of recording the first triple-double since Monica Echeverria accomplished the feat with 13 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Dec. 3, 1999.
- Bethy Mununga’s 12 rebounds marks her 20th career double-figure rebounding game wearing the Green and Gold, and her third of the season.
Up Next
USF will get back to work on Sunday, Dec. 13, following final exams, when instate foe Stetson makes its way to the Yuengling Center. Game time is slated for 2 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN+. The date for the game previously postponed at Stetson’s request, due to COVID issues in the Hatters’ program, has been reinstated as Stetson is now optimistic about its ability to play on the originally scheduled date.
The meeting with the Hatters is currently the last nonconference game on the Bulls’ schedule, however efforts are being made to find one final nonconference opponent.
USF Athletics Communications contributed to this story.
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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 –
