USF’s Women’s Hoops Gears Up for Another Highly Anticipated Season

On a night the 2021 championship banners go up, the Bulls start their trek to what hopes to be a second-straight AAC regular season and tournament title.

GAME ONE | TUE., NOV. 9 | 8 P.M. | TAMPA, FLA. | YUENGLING CENTER

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

TV: ESPN+

(Jim Louk (PxP), Leah Secondo (Color)

Audio: Bulls Unlimited (iHeartRadio/GoUSFBulls.com)

Darek Sharp (PxP), Brigid Merenda (Color)

Live Stats: GoUSFBulls.com/StatBroadcast

Series: First meeting

Twitter Updates: @USFWBB

Tickets: (800) Go-Bulls; USFBullsTix.com

No. 21/22 USF BULLS | 0-0

Last Game: N/A

Next Game: Nov. 11 vs. Alabama State 7 p.m.

Head Coach: Jose Fernandez

Alma Mater: FIU, 1994

Career Record: 392-276 (22nd season)

at USF: Same

UTRGV VAQUEROS | 0-0

Last Game: Nov. 6 vs. Dallas Christian (exh.), W, 94-42

Next Game: Nov. 14 Texas A&M CC, 2 p.m.

Head Coach: Lane Lord

Alma Mater: Johnson University, 1984

Career Record: 345-168 (16th season)

at UTRGV: 37-46 (Fourth season)

By Joey Johnston

Last season, the USF women’s basketball team raised a trophy, winning the American Athletic Conference tournament. Now it’s all about raising expectations.

There’s no mistaking the intentions of the No. 21-ranked Bulls. After opening the season Tuesday night against the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley at the Yuengling Center, then hosting Alabama State two nights later, the Bulls will shift into overdrive like never before.

There’s a game at Tennessee on Nov. 15, part of the AAC/SEC Challenge. The Lady Volunteers have won eight national championships.

There’s a pre-Thanksgiving trip to the Bahamas — the Battle 4 Atlantis — where the Bulls open against Syracuse, then have a potential second-round matchup against the UConn Huskies and Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma. UConn has won 11 national championships.

On Black Friday, the Bulls have a specially arranged single game in the Bahamas against the Stanford Cardinal and Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer. Stanford, the defending national champions, has won three NCAA titles.

Tennessee? Stanford? Potentially UConn?

For fans who wonder if USF coach Jose Fernandez has lost his mind, there’s a method to his madness. And it’s all about the Madness you find during March.

Fernandez’s program has a well-established track record. If everything goes well, the Bulls will celebrate the program’s 50th anniversary season by earning their seventh NCAA Tournament bid in the last decade. After capturing the AAC regular-season and tournament championship and falling to No. 1-seeded NC State 79-67 in the second round, the Bulls are eager to pursue their first Sweet 16 berth.

With nearly every significant player returning, along with adding some talented transfers, the Bulls are two-deep at every position. The talent is unquestioned. Fans, coaches and players know that USF has become a major force in women’s basketball.

The schedule?

“We’re definitely going to be tested,’’ Fernandez said. “If we do our job and win the conference championship, we want to be sure we’re not an 8-9 seed (which always feeds into a potential second-round meeting against a No. 1 seed).

“The kids know the type of schedule we have. I believe the players in our program want to play that type of schedule. If they don’t, then we did a bad job in recruiting and they shouldn’t be in our program. Our players want to play the best and be challenged against the best. We have a lot of opportunities in November and December that, if we’re successful, will give us some pretty quality wins. That will help us down the road with the people who are sitting in the room deciding where to seed teams.’’

The Bulls have the kind of team that appears worthy of an elite seed.

Three USF players — 5-7 guard Elena Tsineke, 6-0 forward Bethy Mununga and 6-4 forward Dulcy Fankam Mendijadeu — were named to the AAC Preseason All-Conference first team. Meanwhile, 5-10 guard Sydni Harvey and 5-8 guard Elisa Pinzan were selected to the second team.

Tsineke was USF’s leading scorer last season (13.6 points per game on a balanced team). Mununga, who opted to return and use her bonus COVID-19 season, has established herself as one of the nation’s top interior players, averaging 12.9 rebounds per game, while scoring 9.7 points. Fankam Mendjiadeu played her last two years at Memphis, where she averaged a double-double last season (14.1 points and 10.6 rebounds).

Harvey was named the AAC Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. She averaged 11.7 points and needs 97 to reach 1,000 for her career. Pinzan, the point guard who was selected the AAC’s Most Improved Player, was seventh nationally in assists at 6.5 per game, while averaging 10.3 points.

USF also returns veteran Shae Leverett, a 6-2 center and team leader. Fernandez is also high on newcomers Sara Guerreiro, a 5-8 guard, and Patience Williams, a 6-1 forward/center. The Bulls also have another Memphis transfer, 5-10 point guard Aerial Wilson, who should take some pressure off Pinzan.

How will Fernandez deploy his players when only so many minutes are available? He’s not exactly certain, but it’s a desirable problem.

“We’ve got to find eight or nine players to give us a good rotation, then the other four or five (players) need to cheer like hell,’’ Fernandez said with a laugh. “We won 19 games last year and got to the second round of the (NCAA) tournament. We had two players sign pro and three transfer and we still (have a deep team).

“We’re good. We’ve got a lot of talent on this team. And after this season, we lose only Bethy and Shae. We’ll be signing some more good players and it will stay very competitive. That’s what good programs do.’’

Good programs also play nationally competitive schedules. The Bulls will test themselves in a big way. By March, USF women’s basketball hopes to be raising another trophy. The expectations? They are already through the roof. But Fernandez said he believes he has a roster that’s up for that challenge.

“We are excited to get it started,’’ Fernandez said. “We have the type of team that needs to be challenged. And we are going to have a lot of challenges coming our way, that’s for sure.’’

 #GoBulls