Next game: Tulane (17-12, 9-8) vs. USF (20-10, 13-4)
When: Monday, March 10, 9 p.m.
TV/radio: ESPN+ and Bulls Unlimited
Starting Monday night, it’s now or never for the USF women’s basketball team.
The Bulls play Tulane in their opening American Athletic Conference tournament game in Fort Worth. USF’s mission is clear: The Bulls have to win three games in three days to secure an NCAA tournament bid.
Because of its relatively low standing compared to other conferences, the AAC champ will almost assuredly be the only team in this league to receive a bid.
Tulane knocked off Wichita State 69-63 on Sunday to advance against the third-seeded Bulls. It will be the first time USF sees the Green Wave this season; the regular-season meeting between the two teams was postponed twice before it was canceled.
USF will have to be wary about Tulane’s Victoria Keenan. She had a career-high 26 points in the win over Wichita State, including 5-for-8 behind the arc.
The Bulls come into the game on a surprising two-game losing streak and haven’t played since March 1, but head coach Jose Fernandez said he believes the time off gave his team much-needed rest and practice time.
“When you don't practice and you’re just playing games, you lose a lot. Some guys do a much better job of handling that kind of stuff than others,” he said.
“But I think, I think our kids know what's at stake. You got to win three games in three days if you want to play the NCAA tournament. It’s a good opportunity for everything that we set out to do at the beginning of the year.”
The bad mojo from the two straight losses began to fade last week as the Bulls focused practice time on cleaning up the mistakes that cost them in those games.
“Before we lost those two, we won nine in a row. So people think we got a good basketball team,” Fernandez said. “Usually in the tournament, the first one is toughest to get through.
“I think we're a tough team to prepare for, for a one day prep, just because of the amount of stuff that we do on the offensive end of the floor. So hopefully we’ll have a good practice up there, have a good shoot around, and get ready for Monday night.”