USF Women’s Basketball Loses Freshman Beatriz Jordao For Remainder of Season

After suffering a leg injury in late November, the USF women’s basketball program announced Thursday that freshman center Beatriz Jordao will officially miss the remainder of the 2018-19 season.

“This has been difficult for Beatriz, who has been a major contributor to our program in her first season and has a very bright future,” head coach Jose Fernandez told GoUSFBulls.com in a release, “She will take the time she needs to recover and allow the injury to heal and we will support her through this process.”

The Portugal native was tabbed as AAC Freshman of the Week twice this season and averaged 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds through 12 games, good for third-best on the team.

Jordao posted a double-double in her collegiate debut at Ohio State and scored a game-high 14 points in USF’s dominant win over George Washington before missing contests against Grambling State (Dec. 15) and Vermont (Dec. 17) with the nagging leg injury.

After playing only nine minutes in USF’s most recent loss at LSU, the team decided to shut her down for the rest of the season earlier this week.

Jordao joins Latvian superstar and two-time honorable mention All-American Kitija Laksa (torn ACL) on the shelf as well as sophomore forward Silvia Serrat who remains sidelined by injury.

“Losing Beatriz is another tough blow for our team, but we remain resilient and focused on our goals this season,” Fernandez added.

With only 10 healthy players, the Bulls (9-5) will open up conference play in Philadelphia on Saturday against Temple. Tip is scheduled for 3 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.