USF women get No. a 12 seed in NCAA Tournament, open vs. Tennessee

In the immediate wake of his team’s 69-62 triumph against Rice in the American Athletic Conference Tournament final, USF coach Jose Fernandez suggested the Bulls could lurk as a dangerous double-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Starting Friday in Columbus, Ohio, their bracket-busting endeavors begin in earnest, against one of the most storied programs in the women’s game.

Sure to Fernandez’s forecast, the Bulls (23-10) have been seeded 12th in Regional 3 and will open play against No. 5-seeded Tennessee. USF earned a tourney berth by winning three games in as many days to capture last week’s American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.

It has been a double-digit seed twice before, defeating No. 7 Texas Tech 71-70 as a 10th seed in 2013 and falling 66-64 to No. 6 Missouri on a buzzer-beating put-back as a No. 11 seed in 2017.

“This is a special group,” Fernandez said Sunday night during the Bulls' selection-show watch party inside the Yuengling Center.

“They’ve been through a lot, and then to have the pressure of having to win three (tournament) games in three days, it’s tough to do. But I knew all along this was a tournament team, and that’s why we scheduled the way we scheduled in November and December.”

The Bulls have won 12 of their last 14, never trailing in their final two AAC tourney contests. They embarrassed ACC champion Duke, 65-56, at home on Dec. 21 and lost by only four to Louisville (a No. 7 seed in this year’s tourney) and seven to Mississippi State (a No. 9 seed) in late November contests.

Their stifling perimeter defense, which forced three AAC tourney foes to shoot a collective 16.7% (9 of 54) from 3-point range, will be essential Friday.

Though they lost three of their last four in the regular season, the Lady Vols (22-9) enjoyed a resurgence of sorts under first-year coach Kim Caldwell, who employs a frenetic style of play. Tennessee, which presses relentlessly, forces 22.4 turnovers a game (ninth-most nationally) and attempts nearly 31 3-pointers per contest (third-most).

“Tennessee plays a little different; they play 10 or 11 people,” Fernandez said. “They like to shoot the ball from 3-point land, and they run a lot of bodies at you, so I think our perimeter defense is going to have to be really, really good.”

Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls

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