On a day when fans were asked to make a Christmas teddy bear donation at the Yuengling Center so children could have a Christmas gift, USF men's and women's basketball returned the favor.
The women pulled away from Navy for an 86-74 win followed by a dominant 94-69 dismantling of UMBC by the men.
The women shook off the shellacking they took earlier in the week by third-ranked South Carolina, and the men did the same after losing at Alabama. The women improved to 7-6 under interim coach Michele Woods-Baxter. The men are 7-5, including 5-0 at home,
Bulls guard Joseph Pinion was basically unguardable throughout the afternoon. He had a personal-best seven 3-pointers en route to a 25-point performance. It was an impressive bounce-back after he was held to 11 points at Alabama. He received an ovation from the crowd of 5,509 when he left , which did not go unnoticed.
"I don't think against Alabama, anybody would have applauded Joe when he walked off the floor. But the difference only is because he made seven threes today," Bulls coach Bryan Hodgson said.
"What the general public doesn't see is at Alabama, like he's running off screens left and right, and he's being chased all over the gym to free up the lane for CJ (Brown) and for Adriel (Nyorha) and for Zay (Izaiyah Nelson) to get finishes at the rim. You know, his defensive game plans are built around Joe Pinion. I mean, I have guys telling me after the game that, man, we talked a ton about how we're going to limit his attempts. He does so many unselfish things that people don't see. They see his made threes. He's one of the best shooters I've ever coached."
A new career-high 7⃣ threes for @josephpinion2 👏 pic.twitter.com/ozBNHTyETV
— USF Men's Basketball (@USFMBB) December 21, 2025
In the women's game, Carla Brito and Stefanie Ingram each posted double-doubles to lead USF in the Bulls last game before beginning American Conference play on December 30 at home against Rice. Brito had 21 points and 10 rebounds while Ingram had 18 points and 10 assists.
But as Woods-Baxter said, their leadership off the court after the South Carolina game was just as impressive.
"I could come in and we could be like, you got to be better. And I could scream and holler and I could do this. But you know what? They give everything they got all the time. I mean, maybe let up a little of that game, but we've had a grueling schedule. We've been going nonstop for several days in a row with all these games," she said.
"But you know what? It's these two (Brito and Ingram). I mean, they're my rock. When I need someone to say something to anybody on the team or to make sure, okay, I need my locker room. Great. These two are the ones to step up and say, I got you, coach and they do a great job."