USF Athletics Weekly Round-Up 11/17 - 22

No. 23 Women’s Basketball goes 2-1, finishes in third place in the Bad Boy Mowers Women’s Battle 4 Atlantis

USF Women’s Basketball continued their tough non-conference schedule by heading to the Bahamas to compete in the Inaugural Bad Boy Mowers Women’s Battle 4 Atlantis with an impressive field of teams. In game one on Saturday, USF beat Syracuse 77-53 overcoming a slow start in the first quarter in a game where every player saw the court and ten players tallied at least two points. The Bulls were down 18-13 at the end of the first quarter and fired off a 20-8 run to take the lead into halftime and never looked back. Senior Bethy Mununga led all scorers with 18 points on 7-12 shooting and added 12 rebounds to secure her first double-double of the year. Junior Elena Tsineke and Sophomore Sydni Harvey added 17 points on 6-12 shooting each.

In game two on Sunday, the Bulls played a familiar foe in no. 2 UConn falling 60-53 - their smallest margin of defeat against the Huskies. USF kept UConn within striking distance and even went into the final frame knotted up at 45 after a 20-11 third quarter, but the Huskies closed in the fourth. Tsineke led all Bulls with 17 points on 7-20 shooting and Mununga added 15 with eight rebounds.

In game three on Monday, the Bulls faced off in the third-place game vs. no. 9 Oregon and beat the Ducks in convincing fashion 71-62. Junior Elisa Pinzan was the star of the game posting a double-double and leading all scorers with 26 points off 7-10 shooting (4-4 from 3) and 10 assists. She also was a perfect 8-8 on free throws. Harvey added 22 points off 5-13 shooting (4-7 from 3), and Memphis-transfer Dulcy Mendjiadeu Fankam scored 17 points in 25 minutes of work. After going down 18-13 at the end of the first quarter, the Bulls rallied to a 16-9 advantage in the second to take the lead into halftime and didn’t look back.

Volleyball drops pair of games to C. and Temple

Three days after their first conference win of the season vs. Memphis - USF headed East to Oviedo to take on the G. Knights for the second time this season. The results weren’t much different as the Bulls dropped all three sets by the score of 25-15, 25-16, and 25-16 to the AAC regular season champs. Freshman Marta Cvitkovic led USF with 13 kills and four aces in the loss. The Bulls have lost 18 straight matches to C. - 12 of which have been a 3-0 sweep.

On Sunday, USF faced Temple for the final game in the Corral and started off strong with a 25-22 first set, but conceded the final three 25-16, 28-26, and 25-23 to lose their second straight match. Cvitkovic tied with freshman Tizi Pujiz with 11 kills while Pujiz paced the Bulls with 15 digs. USF fired off seven straight points after being down 18-11 in the fourth set, but couldn’t sustain the rally.

USF (7-22, 1-17) will conclude it’s season on the road at second-place Houston (25-6, 14-4) on Wednesday and sixth-place Tulane on Black Friday (17-13, 10-8).