Next game: East Carolina (15-13, 7-9) at USF (20-9, 13-3)
When: Saturday, March 1, 7 p.m. at the Yuengling Center
TV/Radio: ESPN+ and Bulls Unlimited
Wednesday night’s 66-58 loss at Tulsa probably didn’t impact the USF women’s basketball team’s NCAA tournament chances much. Even if the Bulls had won, they likely would have had to win the American Athletic Conference tournament to secure a bid.
But the bigger story of that game is the status of Sammie Puisis, USF’s leading scorer. She came out of the game with 9:43 remaining in the fourth quarter and did not return.
“She came to me and said her back was bothering her,” Bulls coach Jose Fernandez said in a post-game radio interview.
Her availability for Saturday’s Senior Night game against East Carolina at the Yuengling Center and, more importantly, next week’s AAC tournament is uncertain.
The loss ended a nine-game winning streak for USF and the Bulls’ chance for a regular-season conference title.
“Without a doubt,” Fernandez said. “You got to win the conference tournament. The at-large picture is out the door.”
It will also damage USF’s NET ranking and potential NCAA seeding even if the Bulls win the conference tournament. Tulsa entered the game with a NET ranking of 136.
As for the game itself, Fernandez didn’t mince words.
“I thought (Tulsa) played really hard, played with a lot more effort than we did for one reason or another,” he said.
USF is tied with North Texas for second place in the AAC. The Bulls’ first tournament game will be on Monday, March 10, in Fort Worth, but it’s too early to say who they will play or at what time. The second - and third-seeded teams are scheduled for the evening quarterfinal session.
USF split the season series with North Texas and is the only AAC team to defeat conference leader UTSA.