Bulls fall to UCLA in second round of NCAA tournament

Seniors Courtney Williams and Alisia Jenkins combined for 52 of USF women's basketball's 67 points.
ORACLE FILE PHOTO/ADAM MATHIEU

After another slow start, not even one of the greatest tandems in USF basketball history could save the Bulls’ season.

Once again, seniors guard Courtney Williams and forward Alisia Jenkins rose to the occasion, combining for 52 of the Bulls’ 67 points Monday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

However, that would not be enough to beat third-seeded UCLA, falling to the Bruins 72-67 in Los Angeles.

The Bruins (26-8) on its home court hosted No. 6 seed USF (24-10) from Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus. The advantage helped UCLA get off on a 7-0 run to start, a lead the Bruins would not relinquish.

The Bulls would score 11 points in the second quarter, trailing by 16 at halftime while shooting under 30 percent through two quarters.

But, as they have all year, the Bulls would fight back.

The Bulls came back to outscore UCLA 23-10 in the third quarter, cutting their deficit to only three.

Although the Bulls nearly erased yet another first half deficit, Bruins’ sophomore guard Jordin Canada proved to be the difference in the Bruins’ five-point win.

Canada, a teammate of Courtney Williams on Team USA, led UCLA with 19 points and 7 rebounds. The Bruins’ had four players in double figures, while the Bulls only had four scorers for the entire game.

In their last collegiate game, Williams Jenkins put on one more show donning the green and gold. Williams led all scorers with 29 points, after only scoring 4 in the first half.

Jenkins, the program’s all-time leading rebounder, scored 23 points to go with 9 boards.