USF women's basketball fell to SMU 46-44 on Saturday and are now alone in 8th place in AAC standings. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/GOUSFBULLS

Henshaw’s second-straight double-double not enough in Dallas

Despite a second-straight double-double by Tamara Henshaw, USF women’s basketball (11-9, 2-4) fell 46-44 to SMU (7-12, 3-2) on Saturday afternoon in Dallas. The junior from Palm Coast shot 5-for-6 from the field, scoring 13 points and collecting a career-high 15 rebounds.

The Bulls only shot 30 percent from the field, but freshman Sydni Harvey was still able to get herself into double-digits for points, scoring 17 points. Together with Henshaw, the duo combined for 30 of the Bulls’ 44 points.

Bulls battle back

USF trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, eventually cutting it to two points with just over two minutes to play in the fourth quarter.  Sophomore Enna Pehadzic found herself with the ball with under two seconds remaining in the game, but had her shot blocked to end USF’s chances for mounting a comeback.

Aiding the Bulls in their comeback attempt were 19 SMU turnovers, which directly led to 18 USF points. The Bulls also held the Mustangs to 30 percent from the field.

Bulls not on parade

For the fourth-straight game, USF was only able to dress eight players. Senior Laura Ferreira (out indefinitely with undisclosed illness) and junior Alyssa Rader (concussion symptoms) did not play in Dallas. Along with senior Kitija Laksa and freshman Beatriz Jordao, the sidelined Bulls combine for an average of 51.6 points per game this season.

All eight healthy players saw playing time for USF, with sophomore Shae Leverett playing the full 40 minutes and Harvey playing 39.

Rideau and Yetna both drop double-doubles in Bulls’ win at ECU

Laquincy Rideau and Alexis Yetna led the way with double-doubles as USF men’s basketball (14-6, 4-4) defeated ECU (8-11, 1-6) by 20 points, 77-57, on Saturday night in Greenville, North Carolina.

Yetna led all scorers with a career-high 28 points and collected 13 rebounds as he recorded his AAC-leading 10th double-double of the season. Rideau led the way in assists with 10 and also added 10 points, earning his second double-double of the season. Rideau also added four steals in the game, bringing him to 66 on the season, three shy of setting a new program single-season record.

Justin Brown efficient from 3-point range

Brown has been the main 3-point shooter for the Bulls, and he showed why against ECU. He was nearly perfect from downtown, going 4-for-5 from behind the line, and was 5-7 total from the field. Brown finished with 14 points, second on the team behind Yetna.

Additionally, Brown tied his season high for 3-pointers made and recorded his second-highest efficiency percentage from behind the 3-point line (80 percent).

Bulls share the ball

In addition to Rideau’s 10, the rest of the team added on seven other assists against ECU. Yetna, David Collins and Xavier Castaneda each recorded two, while Antun Maricevic posted one of his own.

“It was probably the best offensive movement that we’ve had in a while – making the extra pass, making some shots when they presented themselves, which was big,” coach Brian Gregory said in a statement. “I’m really proud of our guys. We said this was a response week. We win the game against Wichita State and now you go on the road. Our guys wanted nothing to do with anything other than getting the job done.”

USF completes comeback

USF trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half before going on an 11-0 run near the end of the first half, eventually taking a 36-34 lead into halftime.

“I thought we probably won the game in the last six minutes of the first half. It was a really good response,” Gregory said. “The defense the last six minutes of the first half and the last 20 minutes was really, really good. We shut down what they wanted to get done. We guarded the three pretty well. We rebounded well and then the biggest thing for us was we took care of the basketball.”

USF outscored the Pirates 41-23 in the second half and held ECU without a field goal for the game’s final 4:38.

Additional reporting by Jeremy Johnson