USF Athletics Weekend Round-Up

Women’s Basketball beats Houston on the road, 55-35

The USF defense came alive giving up their smallest point total all season vs. Houston holding the Cougars to 24% shooting and 13% from beyond the arc. Elena Tsineke, Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, and Maria Alvarez all led the way for the Bulls with 11 points each while Bethy Mununga dominated the boards with 18 rebounds adding eight points herself. USF added 32 points in the paint and out-rebounded the Cougars 50-31. The 20-point margin-of-victory is the largest against a conference foe on the season.

USF (16-5, 6-1) returns home to face Tulane for the second time this season on Sunday at noon.

Men’s Basketball routed by Tulsa, 76-45

Sophomore Caleb Murphy was the only USF player who scored in double digits with 13 points on 6-11 shooting as Tulsa outscored the Bulls 36-18 in the second half to get their first victory in conference play. USF shot only 30% from the field, 16% from beyond the arc, and under 60% from the foul line. Tulsa dominated in the paint outscoring the Bulls 32-14 and had the edge of second chance points 14-2. USF committed 17 total turnovers to Tulsa’s four and only has one victory on the road this season.

USF (6-13, 1-6) will head to Oviedo to take on C. on Thursday in the second installment of the War-on-I4. The first being the Bulls only conference victory.

Men’s Tennis opens season 1-1 on the weekend

USF opened their season in the Peach State with a couple of matches vs. Georgia State and Virginia Tech. On Saturday, the Bulls fell to the Panthers 4-3. Junior Sergio Gomez Montesa and sophomore Alvin Tudorica won their doubles match to open things up, but USF dropped the next two to lose the doubles point. Montesa and Tudorica continued their winning ways with wins on their courts in singles play, but the Panthers won two of the remaining three matches to take the victory.

On Sunday, the Bulls picked up their first victory beating the Hokies 4-2 in the ITA Weekend Kickoff at the University of Georgia. USF secured the doubles point in two matches with the combo of Gomez-Montesa and Tudorica winning 6-1 and juniors Chase Ferguson and Antonio Muniz winning 6-4. Junior Ivan Yatsuk in three sets and sophomores Bruno Oliveira and Manuel Goncalves in two sets each secured the remaining singles points and the dub for the Bulls.

USF will face Georgia on Monday at 2 p.m. to complete the ITA Kickoff.

Women’s Tennis loses pair of matches to Xavier, Memphis on the road

On Saturday, the Bulls faced Xavier losing 4-3 in Memphis. USF opened the match by dropping the doubles point in straight sets each, but made it a game in singles play. Freshman Sierra Berry, senior Alexandria Mjos, and sophomore Margriet Timmermans all won their matches in straight sets, but the Bulls couldn’t secure another point in the loss.

On Sunday, USF faced conference-foe Memphis, but fell 6-1 on their home court. USF dropped the doubles point and Memphis took all, but one match in the matinee. The Bulls lone point came from junior Laura Pellicer winning in straight sets.

USF (1-3) opens up their home schedule on Friday facing North Florida at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts.

Track and Field has several top-5 finishes at PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational

The rise of the USF track and field program continued this past weekend as the Bulls had four event winners in Shaniya Benjamin in the Women’s Long Jump, Shaneylix Davila in the Women’s 60 Hurdles, Romaine Beckford in the Men’s High Jump, and the Women’s 4x400 Relay team. Davila set a facility record with a time of 8.27 at the Lousiville, KY indoor venue, which is fractions shy of her USF record of 8.25. In total, ten individuals and teams placed fifth or better in the second indoor competition of the season.

USF will next travel to Boston at the Crimson Elite hosted by Harvard on Friday.