Next game: Rice (17-16, 7-11) vs. USF (22-10, 13-4)
When: Wednesday, March 13, 7 p.m.
TV/radio: ESPN-U and Bulls Unlimited
The goals that the USF women’s basketball team set for this season are within its reach. If the Bulls defeat Rice tonight, they will win the American Athletic Conference championship and advance to the NCAA tournament.
USF eliminated second-seeded North Texas 58-48 on Tuesday to earn its place in the title game. Rice routed Temple 67-49 for its third win in three days in the tournament.
yeehaw and good night 🤠 pic.twitter.com/ikpx3HMS4W
— USF Women's Basketball (@USFWBB) March 12, 2025
The Owls have a pedestrian record, and the Bulls have beaten them twice this season, but don’t be deceived. The game in Tampa on February 12 went to triple overtime before USF prevailed 82-77. It took a buzzer-beating three-point shot by Sammie Puisis at the end of regulation to send the game into the first overtime.
It’s also worth noting that Rice is the defending AAC tournament champion and is 7-0 all time in this event. In addition to Temple, the Owls have beaten UAB and top-seeded UTSA en route to the finals.
“We play a Rice team that is familiar with us, and we're familiar with them. They've had very, very good success in the conference tournament. The kids play, play hard,” Bulls coach Jose Fernandez said.
“We'll treat everything the same way tomorrow, get ready for them, and it'll be a great championship game for one team to go to the NCAA tournament.”
For a while Tuesday night, USF looked like it was on its way to an easy win over second-seeded North Texas. The Bulls took a 15-point to the dressing room at halftime after holding the Mean Green to 16 first-half points.
North Texas, however, had other ideas.
The Bulls had only four points in the first eight-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter as the Mean Green clawed back into contention. The lead shrank to one point at 39-38 with 7:38 to play before USF went on a 9-0 run and held on from there.
Vittoria Blasigh led the Bulls with 13 points while L`or Moutu had 21 of USF’s 48 rebounds.
USF came to the tournament knowing it had to win three games in three days to advance to the NCAA tournament. Now, there’s one more step.
“We’re 40 minutes away from going to the NCAA tournament. That's the most important thing,” Fernandez said.
“Because you can win a regular-season conference championship and not go to the NCAA tournament, and we're 40 minutes away from doing that.”