Maria Alvarez led three players in double figures with 12 points; Bulls face either UNLV or Virginia on Saturday.
Game Details
No. 15/15 Mississippi State 86, -/RV USF 61
USF (7-5), Mississippi State (10-2)
Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019 | 7 p.m. ET
Las Vegas, Nev. | Cox Pavilion
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (Dec. 19, 2019) – The University of South Florida women’s basketball team had another opportunity to get a signature win over a Top 25 foe, however the Bulls didn’t have enough down the stretch as No. 15-ranked Mississippi State pulled away in the fourth quarter for an 86-61 win in the first game of the Duel in the Desert at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. USF falls to 7-5 on the year while the Bulldogs improve to 10-2. The Bulls will now face either UNLV or Virginia on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET.
A trio of USF freshmen led the way for the Green and Gold with Maria Alvarez (Miami, Fla.) scoring a team-high 12 points. Kristyna Brabencova (Brno, Czech Republic) added 11 points and Elena Tsineke (Thessaloniki, Greece) chipped in with 10 points in the loss. Tamara Henshaw (Palm Coast, Fla.) led the way on the glass with 10 rebounds. In addition to her 11 points, Brabencova also grabbed eight rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots.
Mississippi State jumped out to as much as a 17-point lead in the first quarter, 29-12, with just under a minute left, and led at the end of the first 10 minutes of play, 29-15. USF settled down in the second quarter to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to seven, 29-22, with just over seven minutes left in the half on a jumper by Brabencova. Mississippi State eventually took a 47-37 lead into the locker room at the break.
The Bulls stayed within striking distance in the second half, and got the Bulldogs’ lead down to one, 51-50, on two of Alvarez’ 12 points with five minutes left in the third. That was as close as USF got as Mississippi State outscored the Bulls 34-11 the rest of the way.
Score By Quarters
1 2 3 4 F
USF 15 22 16 8 61
MSU 29 18 19 20 86
Key Stats
27-7 – Mississippi State forced USF into 24 turnovers on the afternoon which led to a 27-2 points off turnovers advantage for the Bulldogs.
Notable
- Today’s starters for the Bulls were: G Maria Alvarez, G Elena Tsineke, W Enna Pehadzic (Horsens, Denmark), C Beatriz Jordao (Pombal, Portugal), F Tamara Henshaw … The Bulls are 1-1 with this lineup.
- Thursday’s loss to Mississippi State drops USF’s record against the Bulldogs to 1-2 in the all-time series.
- Maria Alvarez’s team-high 12 points marked her team-best fourth game leading the Bulls in scoring.
- Tamara Henshaw played in her 113th career game on Thursday against Mississippi State … Henshaw is currently tied for 15th in program history, joining Alana Tanksley (2001-05), and two games shy of joining Nalini Miller (2003-07) and Jasmine Wynne (2008-12) in 13th with 115 games played.
Up Next
USF plays its last game before the holiday break on Saturday, Dec. 21, when it faces either the host UNLV or Virginia on Dec. 21 (3/5 p.m. ET). The Bulls will return the Yuengling Center on Monday, Dec. 30, when they take on Brown at 5:30 p.m.
The Green and Gold begin American Athletic Conference play on Jan. 5 at 2 p.m. when Cincinnati visits the Yuengling Center.
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.
– #GoBulls –
