Fernandez gets win No. 250
Junior forward Alisia Jenkins grabbed 10 rebounds and three steals in the Bulls’ win over Tulane. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/ADAM MATHIEU
In arguably the team’s best effort of the year, coach Jose Fernandez earned his 250th-career victory Sunday after USF defeated Tulane (15-4, 6-2) for the second time this season, 64-45.
The Green Wave converted only six field goals in the first half, going 32 percent from the field for the game.
Junior guard Courtney Williams had her fifth straight game with 20 or more points, her 10th such game of the year, contributing 24 points and 12 rebounds. Williams also had a game-high eight assists, creating open looks and passing the ball to her teammates with ease.
USF’s defense was a force to be reckoned with, causing 13 turnovers and grabbing five blocks and five steals. The defensive effort was led by junior forward Alisia Jenkins, who had three blocks, three steals, 10 points and 10 rebounds to mark her 13th double-double of the season. USF (16-4, 7-1) is undefeated this year when Jenkins records a double-double.
Fernandez showed high praise for his team, which shot 43 percent from the field, scoring 24 points in the paint.
“I think our kids were really dialed in, defensively,” Fernandez said. “We wanted to assault the glass better than last time we played Tulane, and we did a much better job with that today.”
USF never lost its lead, tying Tulane for just 44 seconds of game time and then continuing its dominance for the rest of the contest.
The Bulls will head to Tennessee to take on Memphis on Saturday at 3 p.m. before returning to the Sun Dome for two home games against UCF (7-12, 3-5) and Cincinnati (5-14, 2-5) next week.
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