South Florida Stuns No. 9/10 Duke with a 65-56 Victory!

Tampa, Fla. – Dec. 21, 2024 – Graduate guard Sammie Puisis topped all scorers with 23 points in South Florida women’s basketballs (7-6), 65-56 shocking victory over No. 9/10 Duke at the Yuengling Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
Senior forward L’or Mputu (career-high 17 points, 11 rebounds) recorded her second double-double this season and the third in her career. Junior forward Carla Brito (10 points) and sophomore guard Vittoria Blasigh (10 points) completed the roster of Bulls who achieved double-digit points. Brito’s six rebounds propelled her into the 500 career rebound club.
 
Duke was spearheaded by Toby Fournier with 11 points and seven rebounds.
 
RANKED VICTORY BY THE NUMBERS

• The ranked win marks the 22nd-ranked triumph in program history and Head Coach Jose Fernandez‘s 20th-ranked win.
• This is the Bulls’ first Top-10 ranked victory since toppling No. 7/5 Stanford, 57-54 (Nov. 26, 2021).
• This victory represents the first-ranked triumph since December 2022, when the Bulls defeated No. 17/19 Arkansas, 66-65.
• This victory is the Bulls’ 30th win against a power-5 conference foe since the 2012-13 season.

HOW THE MATCH WAS DECIDED
A three-pointer by Duke’s Taina Mair to begin the fourth quarter cut the Bulls’ lead to three points, 42-39. This ignited an 11-4 run for South Florida, where Puisis scored nine of those points, keeping USF ahead, 63-53, with four minutes remaining, as the Bulls went on to clinch the win.
 
COACH FERNANDEZ EXPRESSED

 
HIGHLIGHTS

 
NOTABLE STATISTICS

• The ranked win marks the 22nd-ranked triumph in program history and Head Coach Jose Fernandez‘s 20th-ranked win.
• This victory represents the first-ranked triumph since December 2022, when the Bulls defeated No. 17/19 Arkansas, 66-65.
• The win is the Bulls’ 30th victory against a power-5 conference competitor since the 2012-13 season.
• The Bulls hold a record of 61-5 in nonconference home games since the 2014-15 season.
• Brito (6 rebounds) has crossed the 500 rebound benchmark.
• Mputu (career-high 17 points, 11 rebounds) recorded her second double-double of this season and the third of her career.
• Puisis topped all scorers with 23 points, marking her third performance of over 20 points this season.
• In the opening quarter, USF limited Duke to six points, the lowest total the Blue Devils have achieved in a quarter this season, and the first time Duke has scored 10 or fewer points in a quarter.

UP NEXT
South Florida will travel to Houston, Texas to commence AAC Conference play at Rice on Sunday, Dec. 29. The game is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. eastern and will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
 
TICKETS
Supporters can obtain women’s basketball tickets by calling 1-800-GoBulls or visiting USFBullsTix.com.
 
ABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
South Florida women’s basketball has made 18 postseason tournament appearances and nine NCAA Tournament entries under head coach Jose Fernandez‘s 25-year tenure. The most successful coach in the program’s history, Fernandez has led the Bulls to 11 seasons with 20 or more victories, two WNIT Final Four finishes, the 2008-09 WNIT championship, achieved over 450 career wins, and is the all-time victories leader in the American Athletic Conference.
 
For comprehensive coverage of USF women’s basketball, follow the Bulls on social platforms (Twitter | Facebook | Instagram).
 
– #GoBulls –