The Bulls open their season on Nov. 5 against Jacksonville at the Yuengling Center
PHILADELPHIA (NOV. 14, 2019) – The University of South Florida women’s basketball team has been picked second in the preseason American Athletic Conference Coaches Poll, the league announced on Monday at its annual media day in Philadelphia. In addition, redshirt junior wing Enna Pehadzic (Horsens, Denmark) was named to the AAC Preseason All-Conference Second Team.
The Bulls, who earned 107 points, were selected behind only UConn (121), which enters its final season in The American. UCF (96) and Cincinnati (96) are tied for third while Houston (81) rounds out the top five teams in the preseason poll. Temple (68), Tulane (59), Memphis (42) and Wichita State (37) were slotted sixth through ninth, respectively, with Tulsa (33), East Carolina (31) and SMU (21) rounding out the bottom three teams.
Despite several key season-ending injuries that dotted the 2018-19 campaign, the Bulls posted a 19-16 record (7-9 AAC) and still advanced to AAC semifinals. It was the sixth straight season that they appeared in at least the conference tournament semifinals. In addition, USF also played in its 15th postseason tournament, advancing to the second round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
Pehadzic, the team’s top returning scorer from a year ago, averaged 12.1 points per game in 2018-19 and an impressive 15.4 points per outing in AAC games. On Feb. 20, against East Carolina, Pehadzic poured in a career-high 35 points, the second-highest point total by any AAC player during the 2018-19 campaign. For her efforts, Pehadzic was tabbed an AAC All-Conference Second Team selection, while also earning AAC All-Tournament honors.
USF, which boasts one of the toughest schedules in the country this season, tips off 2019-20 with five of the first six games at the Yuengling Center. The Bulls begin play on Nov. 5 at 5:30 p.m., when it welcomes in-state foe Jacksonville to Tampa, followed by Texas (Nov. 8, 7 p.m.), Howard (Nov. 12, 7 p.m.) and VCU (Nov. 15, 11 a.m.) before heading on the road to face defending NCAA champion Baylor on Nov. 19. USF closes out the six-game stretch at home against Saint Francis (Pa.) on Nov. 24 at 2 p.m.
In all, the Bulls will face 12 teams that advanced to the postseason in 2018-19 – eight in the NCAA Tournament and four in the WNIT – including three of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAAs; Baylor, Notre Dame (Nov. 30) and Mississippi State (Dec. 19). USF will also face American foe UConn, a No. 2 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, twice, at home on Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. and in Hartford on March 2 at 7 p.m.
Click here to see the complete 2019-20 USF women’s basketball schedule.
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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.
