The junior guard poured in a game-high 24 points in the Bulls’ come-from-behind win at VCU
IRVING, Texas (Dec. 13, 2021) – University of South Florida women’s basketball standout Elisa Pinzan has been named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week for the week ending Dec. 12, the conference announced Monday.
A junior guard from Murano, Italy, Pinzan helped to guide the Bulls to a 64-57 win at VCU in their lone game of the week, netting 24 points, 22 of which came in the second half. It marked Pinzan’s fifth career 20-point performance, and the second-most points she has scored in her South Florida career. She fell just two points shy of her career-high of 26 points, set earlier this season against No. 9 Oregon in the Battle 4 Atlantis third-place game on Nov. 22.
Pinzan was 6-for-8 from the field, including 3-for-4 from behind the three-point arc, and an impressive 9-for-10 from the free-throw line against the Rams to go along with four rebounds, two steals, and one assist in the win.
On the year, Pinzan is third on the team in scoring, averaging 11.3 points per game, and is tops in The American, and 13th in the nation in assists per game, averaging 6.0 per contest.
The Bulls return to action with two home games this week, beginning on Wednesday at 11 a.m. against Stetson, in their annual Education Day game. South Florida closes out its short homestand on Friday at 7 p.m. against High Point.
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USF recorded its best season in program history during the 2020-21 campaign, all while navigating the unpredictable COVID-19 landscape. In doing so, the Bulls won their first-ever American Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles, and posted their highest ranking in the Associated Press Top25 poll – reaching as high as No. 12 – and made their ninth straight postseason appearance, and sixth NCAA appearance in the last 10 years.
USF has made 16 postseason tournament appearances and had seven NCAA Tournament berths in head coach Jose Fernandez’s 21 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 nearly 400 career games. For his efforts on the sideline during the 2020-21 season, Fernandez was named a finalist for the WBCA and semifinalist for the Naismith National Coach of the Year Awards. He was also tabbed the 2021 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
The Bulls posted a 19-4 record and had five players, during the 2020-21 campaign, the Bulls had five players recognized by The American for impressive seasons, including Elisa Pinzan (Most Improved Player, All-Conference Second Team), Maria Alvarez (Co-Sixth Player of the Year), Bethy Mununga (All-Conference First Team), Elena Tsineke (All-Conference First Team), and Sydni Harvey (All-Conference Third Team).
In addition, Harvey was named the American Athletic Conference Tournament Most Outstanding Player and to the All-Tournament Team, while Mununga and Tsineke were also All-Tournament selections.
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