Bulls push forward to AAC Tournament, claim No. 5 spot

*USF battled FAU in a packed Yuengling Center, where they secured a 90-86 victory on Feb 18. ORACLE PHOTO/JUSTIN SEECHARAN*

USF women’s basketball’s regular season came to an end on Tuesday night after a sweeping 68-61 victory against the Mustangs.

However, the last chapter of the 2023-24 season has not yet been completed. The Bulls (18-13, 10-8 AAC) will be heading to Fort Worth, Texas to participate in the AAC Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament on March 9-13.

USF will enter the tournament as the fifth seed out of the 14 teams in the conference.

The AAC Tournament is a single-elimination competition, meaning that if the Bulls don’t win their first match they won’t play in a second one.

USF failed to win against multiple ranked competitors this season. Its non-conference and conference records are not as secure as they have been in past years.

Last season, the Bulls had a 27-7 overall record and went 15-1 in league play en route to winning the regular season title.

The Bulls were projected to win the conference during the preseason this year.

USF did not surpass 20 wins in a non-COVID season for the first time since 2011-12.

Despite the regular season not going their way, coach Jose Fernandez said the conference is evenly matched this year.

“This league is very very balanced, from top to bottom,” he said. “And I think it is pretty wide open.”

The winner of the AAC Championship automatically receives a bid to the NCAA Tournament. This is USF’s last chance to qualify as it cannot get in based on rankings alone.

South Florida will play its first match on Sunday against either Wichita State or Florida Atlantic. This depends on which school wins their first match against each other on Saturday.

The Bulls won their Feb. 13 game against the Shockers (9-21, 5-12 AAC) 79-57 earlier this season.

The Shockers won 65-53 in last year’s tournament match against the Bulls.

This caused USF to fall out of the tournament in the quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

The Bulls have qualified for the NCAA tournament nine times in total, and have played in it every season for the past three years.

FAU has also been a tough competitor in the past. USF lost 67-55 when they faced off on Feb. 17 this year.

There will be a lot riding on the first round for the Bulls.

“We’ve got to play our best basketball while we’re there,” Fernandez said. “It’s going to be a quick turn around with a lot of preparation because you’re playing one game and then have less than 24 hours to prepare for the next game.”