NCAA Tournament: No. 8 USF Women’s Basketball Knocks off No. 9 Washington State 57-53 in First Round

The No. 8 seed South Florida Bulls women’s basketball team defeated the Washington State Cougars 57-53 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night. The Bulls will face No. 1 seed NC State on Tuesday.

USF was led by sophomore guard Elena Tsineke’s 18 points to help the Bulls win their first NCAA Tournament game in five years. Tsineke had 12 first-half points to pace the Bulls.

After a slow first quarter, the Bulls scored 25 points in the second frame to take a nine point lead into the break before the Cougars fought back in the third thanks to some poor shot selection, and turnovers from USF.

Elisa Pinzan scored 12 points for the Bulls on a night Washington State actively tried to take her out of the game by denying the ball, and face guarding which forced Tsienke and Sydni Harvey to run the offense for spurts throughout the night. Tsienke and Harvey combined for four of the Bulls’ seven assists on the night. Harvey also added 10 points for USF.

The path to the Sweet 16 is tough as the Bulls face NC State on Tuesday. The Wolfpack struggled a bit versus No. 16 seed North Carolina A&T before pulling away for an easy win. USF needs their A-game to make a run.