WICHITA, Kan. – South Florida outscored Wichita State by 19 in the third quarter to hand the Shockers their second straight loss, 69-46, Saturday afternoon in Charles Koch Arena.
Wichita State (11-5, 1-2) has now lost seven straight in the series with the Bulls.
Jane Asinde finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Daniela Abies was a bright spot off the bench, scoring a season-high 14 points and grabbing four boards.
Wichita State was held to just 16 points the entire second half and finished the game shooting 31 percent and 2-of-8 from beyond the arc. The Shockers committed only six turnovers before halftime, but that number jumped to 12 in the second half.
Behind USF's big second half on the offensive end, the Bulls shot 47 percent from the field – a season high against the Shockers.
Sammie Puisis scored a game-high 26 points for the Bulls and Elena Tsineke added 16.
A low scoring first 10 minutes saw the Bulls lead 14-10 behind eight first quarter points from Elena Tsineke. Asinde was responsible for six of the Shockers' 10 points.
Both teams had to go deep into their respective benches due to foul trouble early in the second quarter. The two teams combined for 23 fouls for the half. With both of USF's leading scorers on the bench, Wichita State outscored the Bulls by three in the period and held a two-point lead in the final seconds until a buzzer-beating three-pointer fell through the net from Sammie Puisis.
That triple gave USF a 31-30 lead at the half. Asinde led all scorers with 15 points and eight rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Daniela Abies provided a boost off the bench with Trajata Colbert in early foul trouble. Abies gave the Shockers six points and three boards in the half.
Wichita State was able to force 10 first half turnovers and turn those into nine points.
The third quarter was one to forget, unfortunately. USF outscored Wichita State 25-6 and was 10-for-13 from the field. Wichita State found themselves trailing 56-36 after 30 minutes.
USF led by as many as 25 in the fourth quarter.
Up Next
Wichita State opens a two-game road trip in New Orleans on Wednesday, Jan. 11 vs. Tulane.