Bulls look to end UConn’s 90-game streak
Sophomore forward Kitja Laksa leads USF with 21.6 points per game due in large part to her 42.9 percent shooting on 3-point attempts. ORACLE FILE PHOTO/JACKIE BENITEZ
While the UConn women’s basketball team will be looking to tie its own NCAA record of 90 consecutive wins tonight in Hartford, No. 20 USF will be in search of making some history of its own when they travel to Storrs, Connecticut.
The Bulls, who have yet to defeat the Huskies, enter tonight’s game riding a 13-1 start to the season behind the shooting of AAC Player of the Week Kitija Laksa.
The sophomore forward leads USF with 21.6 points per game due in large part to her 42.9 percent shooting on 3-point attempts, and will encounter a defense that has limited AAC opponents to under 50 points in both games.
No stranger to blowing out teams on it way to setting records, the Huskies have won by at least 20 points in eight of their 14 wins this season. Though this has been nothing new for Geno Auriemma-led teams, the close contests have.
UConn, whose top three players were drafted consecutively to begin the 2016 WNBA Draft, fell to an unusual No. 3 AP ranking to open the season before quickly climbing back to No. 1, but not without some close calls.
After opening the season with a two-point win against Florida State, UConn uncharacteristically won by just 11 over Baylor and Notre Dame while also inching out an 87-81 win over Maryland on Dec. 29.
Despite the graduation of the program leaders in scoring and rebounding in Courtney Williams and Alisia Jenkins last season, the Bulls have maintained their national ranking with only one slip-up, a 73-68 loss to Long Beach State on Dec. 19, along the way.
Aside from Laksa, the Bulls have replaced Williams’ production with 14 points per game from both Maria Jespersen and Ariadna Pujol.
Though USF has struggled dismantling UConn in years past, the Bulls’ new-look roster enters tonight’s contest with a shot at ending the streak.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
More Stories
USF’s Mindy McCord builds culture of “family and love” into lacrosse
At 23 years old, a career in coaching was not what Mindy McCord had envisioned. After a stint playing for one of the top field hockey teams in Australia following a successful college playing career, she returned to America. McCord was on track to earn a master’s degree in counseling at Virginia Tech while coaching […]
USF campus ministers offer perspective on stadium development: ‘Exciting benefit of exposure.’
Take a tranquil stroll down Sycamore Drive. It’s a quieter part of campus, hidden away from the usual hustle and bustle of USF. It’s home to an area colloquially known as “Religious Row,” a collection of on-campus religious organizations. In just a few years – with the construction of an on-campus football stadium – the […]
Here’s why these USF softball players chose their jersey numbers
For athletes, the number they wear is more than the added fabric on the back of their jersey. It often tells a deeper story about the players — who they are and where they come from. Here’s why these three USF softball players chose their respective jersey numbers. Related: USF softball is gaining momentum during […]
USF football head coach Alex Golesh: The man behind the process
Football coach Alex Golesh said USF has been on his mind since his own days as a college student when the program was top five in the country. “I distinctly remember sitting there watching it and thinking ‘What is S Florida and what are they doing in the top five in the country?’” Golesh said. […]
USF baseball matches last season’s wins at midseason
USF baseball has reached its midseason, powering through a turnaround year. Despite losing to Florida Gulf Coast on Tuesday 7-5, It has already won 21 games, matching the same total from last season with a road victory against Tulane on Sunday. The Bulls (21-16, 7-5 AAC) stand third out of 10 teams in the conference. […]
USF men’s basketball was gutted by the transfer portal. Here’s who remains on the roster.
Things move pretty quickly in this new world of college basketball thanks in large part to the explosion of the transfer portal. Less than a month removed from a second round exit in the National Invitation Tournament, USF men’s basketball looks a lot different than it did in mid-March. In the span of a […]