Next game: Rice (12-11, 5-6) vs. USF (16-8, 9-2)
When: February 12, 7 p.m. at the Yuengling Center
Media: ESPN+ and Bulls Unlimited
As the games dwindle to a precious few in the regular season, the USF women’s basketball team remains in contention to accomplish its first goal of winning the American Athletic Conference championship.
After holding off Temple 64-57 on Saturday afternoon, the Bulls are alone in second place in the league, one game behind UTSA. The Roadrunners came from behind in the fourth quarter Saturday to fend off upset-minded Wichita State on the road.
After leading by 13 points, USF made things a little nervous as Temple cut the lead to two points entering the fourth quarter.
The Owls got no closer, however, as USF pushed the lead back out to nine with 50 seconds left.
“We got up to 13 and then let him back in the game with some defensive things we could have done better,” Bulls coach Jose Fernandez said on his post-game radio interview.
“We turned it over, but, you know, we did what we needed to do to go on the road, get a win, and get out of here. This has been a really tough stretch for our team.”
It was USF’s fifth straight win and 11th in the Bulls’ last 13 games. The tough stretch Fernandez mentioned started January 25 when the Bulls held off East Carolina’s upset attempt to win 63-60 on the road.
They then handed UTSA its only conference loss and followed that by avenging a loss at North Texas, which was alone in second place at the time.
“You want to keep playing your best basketball this time of the year, but you got to keep doing it,” Fernandez said.
The Bulls did it the hard way. Carla Brito and Mputu L`or played the entire game while point guard Mama Dembele played 36 minutes and graduate guard Sammie Puisis played 34.
Puisis led USF with 15 points, including four 3-pointers.
“They set great screens. My point guard (Dembele) found me every time, and I was able to knock them down,” Puisis said in an ESPN+ interview.
“We want to play fast. We want to play in transition. Our posts run hard, so a lot of attention goes to the paint. And then Mama just found me on the wing, spotting up.”
If the Bulls win out and UTSA stumbles even once, USF would be the top seed in the AAC Tournament starting March 8 in Fort Worth.