2020–21 South Florida Bulls women's basketball team explained
| Mode: | Women's Basketball |
| Year: | 2020–21 |
| Prev Year: | 2019–20 |
| Next Year: | 2021–22 |
| Team: | South Florida Bulls |
| Conference: | American Athletic Conference |
| Short Conf: | AAC |
| Record: | 19–4 |
| Conf Record: | 13–2 |
| Head Coach: | Jose Fernandez |
| Hc Year: | 21st |
| Stadium: | Yuengling Center |
| Champion: | AAC regular season champions
AAC tournament champions |
| Bowl: | NCAA tournament |
| Bowl Result: | second round |
| Arena: | Yuengling Center |
| Aprank: | 19 |
| Coachrank: | 18 |
| Asst Coach1: | Danny Hughes |
| Assoc Coach: | Michele Woods-Baxter |
| Asst Coach2: | Yolisha Jackson |
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.
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 |
| 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
See main article: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports.
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
- The February 7 game at UCF was postponed until March 4 due to COVID issues with both programs[10]
Schedule
|-!colspan=12 style=| Regular season|-|-!colspan=12 style=| AAC Tournament|-|-!colspan=12 style=| NCAA tournament|-[11]
Rankings
See main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball 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 | |
|---|
[12] style="background:#D8FFEB; width:20px;" | | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | | Received Votes | |
Player honors
AAC Player of the Week
- Elisa Pinzan - Week 2[13]
- Bethy Mununga - Week 6[14]
- Elisa Pinzan - Week 8[15]
AAC Most Improved Player of the Year
AAC Sixth Player of the Year
First Team All-AAC
- Bethy Mununga
- Elena Tsineke
Second Team All-AAC
Third Team All-AAC
AAC All-Tournament Team
- Sydni Harvey[17]
- Elena Tsineke
- Bethy Mununga
AAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player
Other honors
AAC Coach of the Year
See also
2020–21 South Florida Bulls men's basketball team
Notes and References
- Web site: USF women win first league title of any kind. 2021-03-03. Tampa Bay Times. en.
- Web site: USF Earns Top Spot In American Women's Basketball Preseason Poll. 2021-01-15. theamerican.org. en.
- Web site: USF-Houston WBB Game Rescheduled for Jan. 9. 2021-01-15. USF Athletics. en.
- Web site: 2020-12-29. SMU women's basketball team opts out of season after six games. 2021-01-15. Dallas News. en.
- Web site: 2021-02-04. No. 14 South Florida on pause due to coronavirus issues. 2021-03-03. WTOP. en.
- Web site: USF-Memphis WBB Game Scheduled For Jan. 17 Canceled. 2021-01-19. USF Athletics. en.
- Web site: AAC Announces USF-Wichita State WBB Game Postponed. 2021-01-19. USF Athletics. en.
- Web site: USF WBB Game at East Carolina Postponed. gousfbulls.com. 22 Jan 2021.
- Web site: USF WBB Games Against Temple and Cincinnati Postponed. 2021-02-07. USF Athletics. en.
- Web site: USF-UCF WBB War on I-4 Game Rescheduled for March 4. 2021-02-07. USF Athletics. en.
- Web site: 2020-21 Women's Basketball Schedule. 2021-01-15. USF Athletics. en.
- Web site: 2020-21 Women's College Basketball Rankings for Week 8. 2021-01-15. ESPN. en.
- Web site: USF's Pinzan, Tulane's Jordan Secure Week Two Women's Basketball Awards. 2021-01-20. theamerican.org. en.
- Web site: USF's Mununga, Cincinnati's Thomas, Tulane's Jordan Named Top Players In Women's Basketball Week Six. 2021-01-20. theamerican.org. en.
- Web site: USF's Pinzan, Tulane's Jordan Earn Week Eight American Women's Basketball Awards. 2021-01-20. theamerican.org. en.
- Web site: Cincinnati's IImar'I Thomas Voted 2021 American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Player Of The Year. 2021-03-08. theamerican.org. en.
- Web site: No. 20/18 USF Wins 2021 Women's Basketball Championship With 64-54 Victory Over UCF. 2021-03-12. theamerican.org. en.
