By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, DEC. 6, 2015 – No. 24/23 USF used a complete team effort to topple Penn State, 101-79, Sunday in the program's first 100-point performance since 2012.
Courtney Williams wowed the Sun Dome crowd with a game-high 30 points and her all-around effort included seven assists and eight rebounds. USF (5-2) finished with a season-high 21 assists and had five players in double-digit scoring figures.
“I think our team just likes seeing everybody do well. I think that gives us momentum to see another teammate knock down a shot, it gets you hyped,” Williams said. “I definitely think that's a big improvement we've been working on in practice.”
Alisia Jenkins added 21 points and her 14 rebounds helped the Bulls dominate with a 41-23 advantage on the glass. With 1,068 rebounds, Jenkins is just 10 boards away from breaking USF's career record set by Wanda Guyton in 1989.
“She wants to get every ball going off the rim and that's what good rebounders do,” head coach Jose Fernandez said.
Kitija Laksa gave the Bulls a huge lift in the second half with 13 of her career-high 18 points. Point guard Shalethia Stringfield scored a season-high 12 points, going 10-for-10 from the free throw line and dishing out a game-high eight assists with zero turnovers. Maria Jespersen scored in double figures for the second straight game with 10 points.
USF improved to 2-0 all-time against Penn State (3-5) and the Bulls were highly motivated to take down another big-name opponent.
“I told our guys Penn State is really talented. They took Tennessee to the wire at Tennessee,” Fernandez said. “Everybody on their roster was a top-100 kid coming out of high school.”
The Bulls roared out of the gates on the way to a 53-35 lead at break, the program's largest halftime lead of the season. It marked USF's first 50-point first-half effort since scoring 56 against UCF on Feb. 28, 2015.
Williams scored 10 of USF's first 15 points and five straight points from the senior guard spotted the Bulls a 15-10 lead. USF continued on a 10-0 run with a 3-pointer from Laksa and Williams' layup pumped the advantage up to 20-10 with 2:14 remaining in the period.
Williams finished the first quarter with 14 points and her reverse layup with three seconds left extended the lead to 26-15.
“My teammates getting involved, it hypes me up, so I just try and do my part,” Williams said.
USF built a 20-point lead late in the second quarter after completely taking the game over with an 11-0 run. Stringfield scored four points during the surge and the Bulls jumped ahead, 50-31, on a Jenkins layup with 2:16 to go before halftime.
USF shot 48.6 percent from the field in the opening half and stepped up on defense with 10 forced turnovers (16 total). Jenkins was up to 11 points and her nine rebounds helped the Bulls start with a 25-14 edge. Williams was on the verge of her sixth 20-plus point game of the season with 17 points at the half after going 7-for-12 from the field.
“We're getting other guys involved, where it takes a lot of pressure of her,” Fernandez said. “Now it makes the other team have to defend other guys.”
Penn State used a 14-4 run to cut its deficit down to 57-49 less than five minutes in the third quarter. The Lady Lions got to within five but the Bulls stayed in control by behind the strong play by Laksa. The freshman forward from Latvia scored all eight of USF's points in the final two minutes of the third quarter. Laksa's 3-pointer gave the Bulls a 72-63 lead with 37 seconds remaining in the period.
Laksa knocked down her third 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter and her jumper with nine minutes left brought the Bulls' lead up to 78-64.
“When you're a shooter, I think a lot of it is confidence and seeing the ball go through the rim,” Fernandez said. “I think she attacked and got to the free throw line.”
Laksa's performance from long range helped the Bulls complete the blowout by outscoring Penn State, 28-17, in the final quarter. The 101 points were USF's most since putting up 100 in a victory over FAMU on Dec. 29, 2012.
“You look at 33 field goals and 21 of them were assisted. That's a big positive,” Fernandez said.
The Bulls will chase after their third consecutive win Sunday, Dec. 13 against Chattanooga back at the Sun Dome. Game time is set for noon and fans can reserve their seats at USFBullsTix.com.
“It's a lot to build on. We'll go into finals week, we'll be off tomorrow and start getting ready for us continuing to get better and getting ready for Chattanooga,” Fernandez said.
