Grace writes her name in USF record books

The NCAA announces today the 64 women’s college basketball teams that will play for a national title.

South Florida (16-15, 5-11) needed to win its conference tournament for a chance to be picked but lost 64-42 in the second round to No. 14 West Virginia (24-7, 12-4).

USF junior guard Shantia Grace became the Bulls’ all-time assist leader as she got 11 assists while the Bulls played in the Big East Tournament as the No. 11 seed and defeated No. 6 seed Syracuse (22-8, 10-6) 68-67 in the first round. She passed Renee Bellamy, who had 429.

Grace hit five three-pointers in the game and scored 25 points for her first double-double of the year and the sixth of her career.

Her performance helped propel her team past the Orange, which led by as many as 14 points in the game.

She gave the Bulls their first lead of the second half by making a three-pointer with less than two minutes left to play. She made a free throw later to give the Bulls a three-point lead, which was erased by an Erica Morrow three-pointer with six seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Grace was also named First Team All-Big East during the break.

The Bulls lost to West Virginia 79-73 on Jan. 5, and lost again to the No. 3 seed 64-42 in the tournament, ending a three-game winning streak. Eight minutes into the second half, the Mountaineers led 52-22.

Grace scored 16 points in the game.