2020–21 South Florida Bulls women's basketball
AAC regular season champions
AAC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, second round
ConferenceAmerican Athletic Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 18
APNo. 19
Record19–4 (13–2 AAC)
Head coach
Associate head coachMichele Woods-Baxter
Assistant coaches
  • Danny Hughes
  • Yolisha Jackson
Home arenaYuengling Center
2020–21 American Athletic Conference women's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
No. 19 South Florida †13–2 .86715–3  .833
UCF12–2 .85714–3  .824
Houston12–5 .70615–6  .714
Tulane12–6 .66716–7  .696
Temple11–7 .61111–10  .524
East Carolina6–10 .3758–13  .381
Cincinnati6–12 .3337–15  .318
Tulsa4–13 .2355–13  .278
Wichita State2–9 .1825–11  .313
Memphis2–12 .1434–14  .222
SMU0–2 .0000–6  .000
SMU suspended their season on December 29, 2020
The American has declared a forfeit win for USF against Memphis for conference-standings purposes only as a result of the scheduled game from Jan. 17 that was not played. The teams' overall records are not affected.
† 2021 AAC tournament winner
As of March 4, 2021
Rankings from AP poll

The 2020–21 South Florida Bulls women's basketball team represented the University of South Florida during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The season marked the 48th women's basketball season for USF, the eighth as a member of the American Athletic Conference, and the 21st under head coach Jose Fernandez. The Bulls played their home games at Yuengling Center on the university's Tampa, Florida campus. The 2020–21 team was the first in USF women's basketball history to win a regular season conference championship, doing so on March 2, 2021 with a win against rival Central Florida.[1] Nine days later they beat Central Florida again to win their first ever conference tournament. Despite their 18–3 record being one of the best in the nation and being ranked 19th in the AP Poll at the time of selection, the Bulls were selected as the eighth seed in the Mercado Region of the 2021 NCAA tournament. Their season ended on March 23, 2021 with the Bulls losing to No. 1 seed NC State in the Round of 32.

Previous season

The Bulls finished the 2019–20 season 18–12, 10–6 in AAC play to finish in fourth place. They entered as the No. 4 seed in the AAC tournament, where they were eliminated by eventual champion UConn in the semifinal. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA tournament was canceled.

Roster

2020–21 South Florida Bulls women's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightYearPrevious schoolHometown
C 0 Tereza Vitulova 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) RS JrSportovni Gymnazium Domašov, Czech Republic
G 1 Maria Alvarez 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) SoMiami Country Day School Bal Harbour, Florida
G 2 Mihaela Lazić 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) RS FrKlasična Gimnazija Slavonski Brod, Croatia
PG 3 Sydni Harvey 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) JrBrentwood Academy Nashville, Tennessee
PG 4 Elisa Pinzan 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) JrIstituto Tecnico Algarotti Venezia Murano, Italy
G 5 Elena Tsineke 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) SoHellenic College of Thessaloniki Thessaloniki, Greece
F 11 Jade Blagrove 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) FrCalandlyceum Barendrecht, Netherlands
F 12 Cristina Bermejo 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) SoINS Sant Just Desvern Sant Just Desvern, Spain
F 13 Sara Guerreiro 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr  Seixal, Portugal
F 20 Bethy Mununga 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) SrInstitut Sainte-Marie Jambes Zellik, Belgium
C 21 Shae Leverett 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) SrSouth Effingham High School Rincon, Georgia
F 22 Kristýna Brabencová 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) SoKŠPA Kladno Brno, Czech Republic
F/C 24 Angelee Rodriguez 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) FrSt. Thomas Aquinas High School Las Piedras, Puerto Rico
C 31 Beatriz Jordão 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) JrQuinta dos Lombos Pombal, Portugal
F 34 Silvia Serrat 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) SrJoaquim Blume High School Banyoles, Spain
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: January 15, 2021

Preseason

AAC preseason media poll

On October 28, The American released the preseason Poll and other preseason awards. USF was selected as the preseason #1 team in the conference for the first time in program history.[2]

Coaches Poll
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 South Florida 98 (8)
2 UCF 79 (1)
3 Tulane 78
4 Cincinnati 73 (2)
5 Temple 57
6 Wichita State 54
7 Houston 49
8 Memphis 40
9 East Carolina 36
10 SMU 31
11 Tulsa 10

Preseason Awards

  • All-AAC Second Team - Elisa Pinzan
  • All-AAC Second Team - Elena Tsineke

Schedule and results

COVID-19 impact

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Bulls' schedule is subject to change, including the cancellation or postponement of individual games, the cancellation of the entire season, or games played either with minimal fans or without fans in attendance and just essential personnel.

  • The December 19 home game against Houston was postponed to January 9 due to COVID issues with the Cougars[3]
  • Both games scheduled against SMU were canceled after the Mustangs canceled their season on December 29[4]
  • The January 17 home game against Memphis was canceled due to COVID issues with the Tigers. Memphis refused to travel to Tampa citing non-COVID related health reasons with the team, but played a game three days later without complaints, so The American declared a forfeit win to USF for conference standings purposes.[5][6]
  • The January 20 game at Wichita State was postponed due to COVID issues with the Shockers. The game was never rescheduled.[7]
  • The January 23 game at East Carolina was postponed due to COVID issues with the Bulls. The game was never rescheduled.[8]
  • The January 27 home game against Temple was postponed due to COVID issues with the Bulls. The game was never rescheduled.[9]
  • The January 30 home game against Cincinnati was postponed until February 17 due to COVID issues with the Bulls[9]
  • The February 7 game at UCF was postponed until March 4 due to COVID issues with both programs[10]

Schedule

Date
time, TV		 Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular season
November 28, 2020*
4:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. (RV) Jacksonville W 84–46  1–0
 Yuengling Center 
Tampa, FL
December 1, 2020*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. (RV) No. 4 Baylor L 62–67  1–1
 Yuengling Center 
Tampa, FL
December 5, 2020*
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. (RV) No. 6 Mississippi State W 67–63OT  2–1
 Yuengling Center 
Tampa, FL
December 13, 2020*
2:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. (RV) Stetson W 84–46  3–1
 Yuengling Center 
Tampa, FL
December 16, 2020
3:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 23 at Memphis W 65–58  4–1
(1–0)		 Elma Roane Fieldhouse 
Memphis, TN
December 19, 2020
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 23 Houston Postponed (rescheduled for Jan. 9)[11] Yuengling Center 
Tampa, FL
December 22, 2020
2:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 21 at Cincinnati W 73–61  5–1
(2–0)		 Fifth Third Arena 
Cincinnati, OH
December 30, 2020
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 21 at Tulsa W 63–35  6–1
(3–0)		 Reynolds Center 
Tulsa, OK
January 2, 2021
4:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 21 East Carolina W 71–58  7–1
(4–0)		 Yuengling Center 
Tampa FL
January 6, 2021
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 18 Wichita State W 66–48  8–1
(5–0)		 Yuengling Center 
Tampa FL
January 9, 2021
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 18 Houston W 80–51  9–1
(6–0)		 Yuengling Center 
Tampa FL
January 13, 2021
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 16 at Tulane W 72–53  10–1
(7–0)		 Devlin Fieldhouse 
New Orleans, LA
January 17, 2021
4:00 p.m., ESPNU		 No. 16 Memphis W 2–0 (Forfeit)[lower-alpha 1] [12][13]  10–1
(8–0)		 Yuengling Center 
Tampa FL
January 20, 2021
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 14 at Wichita State Postponed (never rescheduled)[14] Charles Koch Arena 
Wichita, KS
January 23, 2021
1:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 14 at East Carolina Postponed (never rescheduled)[8] Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum 
Greenville, NC
January 27, 2021
4:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 13 Temple Postponed (never rescheduled)[15] Yuengling Center 
Tampa FL
January 30, 2021
3:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 13 Cincinnati Postponed (rescheduled for Feb. 17)[15] Yuengling Center 
Tampa FL
February 3, 2021
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 14 at SMU Canceled[16] Moody Coliseum 
Dallas, TX
February 7, 2021
12:00 p.m., ESPN2		 No. 14 at UCF
War on I-4		 Postponed (rescheduled for Mar. 4)[17] Addition Financial Arena 
Orlando, FL
February 13, 2021
4:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 14 Tulsa W 67–46  11–1
(9–0)		 Yuengling Center 
Tampa FL
February 17, 2021
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 12 SMU Canceled[16] Yuengling Center 
Tampa, FL
February 17, 2021
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 12 Cincinnati W 69–65OT  12–1
(10–0)		 Yuengling Center 
Tampa FL
February 20, 2021
7:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 12 Tulane W 78–69  13–1
(11–0)		 Yuengling Center 
Tampa FL
February 24, 2021
3:30 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 13 at Temple W 56–47  14–1
(12–0)		 Liacouras Center 
Philadelphia, PA
February 27, 2021
3:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 13 at Houston L 49–67  14–2
(12–1)		 Fertitta Center 
Houston, TX
March 2, 2021
5:30 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 15 UCF
War on I-4		 W 65–62  15–2
(13–1)		 Yuengling Center 
Tampa, FL
March 4, 2021
5:00 p.m., ESPN+		 No. 15 at UCF
War on I-4		 L 45–58  15–3
(13–2)		 Addition Financial Arena 
Orlando, FL
AAC Tournament
March 9, 2021
3:00 p.m., ESPN+		 (1) No. 20 vs. (9) Wichita State
AAC Tournament Quarterfinal		 W 48–44  16–3
 Dickies Arena 
Fort Worth, TX
March 10, 2021
5:30 p.m., ESPN+		 (1) No. 20 vs. (4) Tulane
AAC Tournament Semifinal		 W 51–47  17–3
 Dickies Arena 
Fort Worth, TX
March 11, 2021
10:00 p.m., ESPNU		 (1) No. 20 vs. (2) UCF
AAC Championship Game/War on I-4		 W 64–54  18–3
 Dickies Arena 
Fort Worth, TX
NCAA tournament
March 21, 2021
9:30 p.m., ESPN2		 (8) No. 19 vs. (9) Washington State
NCAA Tournament First Round		 W 57–53  19–3
 Frank Erwin Center 
Austin, TX
March 23, 2021
3:00 p.m., ESPN2		 (8) No. 19 vs. (1) No. 3 NC State
NCAA Tournament Second Round		 L 67–79  19–4
 Alamodome 
San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

[18]

Rankings

Regular Season Polls
Poll Pre-
season		 Week
2		 Week
3		 Week
4		 Week
5		 Week
6		 Week
7		 Week
8		 Week
9		 Week
10		 Week
11		 Week
12		 Week
13		 Week
14		 Week
15		 Week
16		 Week
17		 Final
AP (RV) (RV) (RV) 23 21 21 18 16 14 13 14 14 12 13 15 20 19 19
Coaches (RV) (RV) (RV) 24 22 22 19 17 14 16 16 15 15 13 14 18 18 18

[19]

Legend
  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
(RV)   Received Votes

Player honors

AAC Player of the Week

  • Elisa Pinzan - Week 2[20]
  • Bethy Mununga - Week 6[21]
  • Elisa Pinzan - Week 8[22]

AAC Most Improved Player of the Year

AAC Sixth Player of the Year

First Team All-AAC

Second Team All-AAC

Third Team All-AAC

AAC All-Tournament Team

AAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player

Other honors

AAC Coach of the Year

See also

2020–21 South Florida Bulls men's basketball team

Notes

  1. ↑ Memphis refused to travel to Tampa citing non-COVID related health reasons with the team, but played a game three days later without complaints, so The American declared a forfeit win to USF for conference standings purposes. This forfeit does not effect either team's overall record, only the conference records.

References

  1. ↑ "USF women win first league title of any kind". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  2. ↑ "USF Earns Top Spot In American Women's Basketball Preseason Poll". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  3. ↑ "USF-Houston WBB Game Rescheduled for Jan. 9". USF Athletics. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  4. ↑ "SMU women's basketball team opts out of season after six games". Dallas News. December 29, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  5. ↑ "No. 14 South Florida on pause due to coronavirus issues". WTOP. February 4, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  6. ↑ "USF-Memphis WBB Game Scheduled For Jan. 17 Canceled". USF Athletics. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  7. ↑ "AAC Announces USF-Wichita State WBB Game Postponed". USF Athletics. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  8. 1 2 "USF WBB Game at East Carolina Postponed". gousfbulls.com. January 22, 2021.
  9. 1 2 "USF WBB Games Against Temple and Cincinnati Postponed". USF Athletics. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  10. ↑ "USF-UCF WBB War on I-4 Game Rescheduled for March 4". USF Athletics. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  11. ↑ "USF-Houston WBB Game Rescheduled for Jan. 9". gousfbulls.com. December 31, 2020.
  12. ↑ The Stanley Cuppede [@StampedeSBN] (February 28, 2021). "Deleted a tweet earlier about WBB - the records in it were not up to date. So here's where it stands now:" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ "USF-Memphis WBB Game Scheduled For Jan. 17 Canceled". gousfbulls.com. January 16, 2021.
  14. ↑ "AAC Announces USF-Wichita State WBB Game Postponed". gousfbulls.com. January 18, 2021.
  15. 1 2 "USF WBB Games Against Temple and Cincinnati Postponed". gousfbulls.com. January 26, 2021.
  16. 1 2 "SMU Women's Basketball Cancels Season, Citing COVID-19". smudailycampus.com. December 29, 2020.
  17. ↑ "USF-UCF WBB War on I-4 Game Rescheduled for March 4". gousfbulls.com. February 4, 2021.
  18. ↑ "2020-21 Women's Basketball Schedule". USF Athletics. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  19. ↑ "2020-21 Women's College Basketball Rankings for Week 8". ESPN. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  20. ↑ "USF's Pinzan, Tulane's Jordan Secure Week Two Women's Basketball Awards". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  21. ↑ "USF's Mununga, Cincinnati's Thomas, Tulane's Jordan Named Top Players In Women's Basketball Week Six". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  22. ↑ "USF's Pinzan, Tulane's Jordan Earn Week Eight American Women's Basketball Awards". theamerican.org. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Cincinnati's IImar'I Thomas Voted 2021 American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player Of The Year". theamerican.org. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "No. 20/18 USF Wins 2021 Women's Basketball Championship With 64-54 Victory Over UCF". theamerican.org. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
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