Rally falls short in USF loss to West Virginia

The USF women’s basketball team held West Virginia without a field goal for the final 4:13 on Wednesday night’s game. YetJasmine Wynne’s potential game-tying half-court heave atthe buzzer missed, with the

Bulls falling 55-52 at the Campus Recreation Center.

The Mountaineers led 53-42 with 3:43 left before theBulls (12-11, 4-5) unleashed a10-2 run, with five points from Wynne, that left them just short.

“Definitely a tough loss at home – it was a game that both us and West Virginia needed in this league,” coach Jose Fernandez said. “We talked to our team before the game about two things: howwe would rebound andsecond-chance points. And we’resitting here at the end of thegame getting out-rebounded

51 to 28 and (outscored in)second-chance points 13 to 5.”

The night started out slow for the Bulls, with the Mountaineers (16-6, 6-3) taking an 11-2 leadeight minutes into the game.

USF found its shooting rhythm with Andrell Smith and Caitlin Rowe each making a 3-pointer. The pair of threes was followed byjunior guard Sasha Bernard drivingto the net for a lay-up to put the Bulls back on track. Bernard finished with nine points off the bench.

With each team shooting below 30 percent in the half, West Virginialet its size take control, collecting51 rebounds by the end of the night. With the Mountaineerdefense bearing down on theBulls, WVU began to pull away.

USF regrouped and looked to mount a comeback, led byWynne’s 16 points and10 rebounds – her 19th-straightgame scoring in double figures.

USF pulled its way back, with Smith making another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two pointswith 1:02 remaining, but the Bulls could not complete the comeback, falling at home for the third time this season.

The Bulls now head to Syracuse for a Saturday afternoon date with the Orange at 1 p.m.