Tampa, Fla. – Dec. 21, 2024 – Graduate guard Sammie Puisis led all scorers with 23 points in South Florida women’s basketballs (7-6), 65-56 upset win against No. 9/10 Duke in the Yuengling Center on Saturday afternoon.
Senior forward L’or Mputu (17 points, 11 rebounds) collared her second double-double of the season and the third of her career. Junior forward Carla Brito (10 points) and sophomore guard Vittoria Blasigh (10 points) rounded out the third and fourth Bulls to finish in double-figure points. Brito’s six rebounds catapulted her into the 500 career rebound club.
Duke was led by Toby Fournier with 11 points and seven rebounds.
RANKED WIN BY THE NUMBERS
- The ranked victory is the 22nd-ranked win in program history and Head Coach Jose Fernandez’s 20th-ranked win.
- The win is the first-ranked victory since December 2022, when the Bulls topped No. 17/19 Arkansas, 66-65.
- The Victory is the Bull’s 30th win against a power-5 conference opponent since the 2012-13 season.
HOW THE GAME WAS DECIDED
A 3-pointer from Duke’s Taina Mair to start the fourth quarter sliced the Bulls advantage to three points, 42-39. Which sparked an 11-4 South Florida run and Puisis had nine of those points, keeping USF in front, 63-53, with four minutes to play as the Bulls went on the secure the victroy.
COACH FERNANDEZ SAID
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HIGHLIGHTS
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NOTABLE NUMBERS
- The ranked victory is the 22nd-ranked win in program history and Head Coach Jose Fernandez’s 20th-ranked win.
- The win is the first-ranked victory since December 2022, when the Bulls topped No. 17/19 Arkansas, 66-65.
- The Victory is the Bull’s 30th win against a power-5 conference opponent since the 2012-13 season.
- The Bulls are now 61-5 in nonconference home games since the 2014-15 season.
- Brito (6 rebounds) has surpassed the 500 rebound milestone.
- Mputu (17 points, 11 rebounds) collared her second double-double of the season and the third of her career.
- Puisis led all scorers with 23 points, which marked her third 20+ point performance of the season.
- In the first quarter USF held Duke to six points, the lowest amount of points the Blue Devils have scored in a quarter this season, and the first time Duke has scored 10 or less points in a quarter.
UP NEXT
South Florida will head to Houston, Texas to jumpstart AAC Conference play at Rice on Sunday, Dec. 1. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. eastern and the action will air live on ESPN2.
TICKETS
Fans can purchase women’s basketball tickets by calling 1-800-GoBulls or at USFBullsTix.com.
ABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
South Florida women’s basketball has made 18 postseason tournament appearances and had nine NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez’s 25 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided the Bulls to 11 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2008-09 WNIT championship, has won over 450 career games, and is the all-time wins leader in the American Athletic Conference.
For complete coverage of USF women’s basketball, follow the Bulls on social media (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).
– #GoBulls –
