Bulls Drop 71-56 Decision To Marquette

The University of South Florida Women’s Basketball team dropped another crucial BIG EAST Conference game falling to Marquette for the second time this season, 71-56 at the Sun Dome. The loss moves the USF to 16-7 on the season and 3-6 in league play.

The Bulls, who were coming off a big win at Rutgers on Saturday, had an opportunity to make a significant move in the BIG EAST standings with win over the Golden Eagles.

The two teams combined for nine ties and four lead changes in the first half while neither team led by more than seven in the first 20 minutes. Marquette would take its biggest lead of the half, 33-26, just prior to the intermission, and although the Bulls seemed within striking distance, they were despite shooting just 29.6 percent (8-27) from the floor in the first stanza.
The Golden Eagles defense came out strong in the second half scoring the first five points of the half and not allowing the Bulls to score until Danielle Starzynski hit a lay-up with 15:44 left in the game to make the score 38-28.

After Starzynski cut the lead to 10, USF would put together a 16-7 run to cut the lead to three, 45-42, whenStarzynski connected on two free throws with 10:01 left in the contest.
Marquette, however would ice the game with a 26-12 run over the final 10 minutes, a stretch that wasn’t helped by 6-13 shooting from the free throw line by the Bulls.

Starzynski displayed an amzing effort in her first game back after a 6 game suspension, scoring 43 points on the night, a new career high. Janae Stokes also added 11 points in the loss. Porche Grant grabbed 12 rebounds.

For the Golden Eagles, Angel Robinson poured in a game-high 30 points.
On the night, the Bulls shot just 32.7 percent (17-52) from the field and 52.9 percent (18-34) from the free throw line. They were also beaten on the boards being outrebounded 54-38, including 22-1 on the offensive glass.

Up next for the Bulls is a trip to Syracuse to take on the Orange on Sunday Feb. 8. Stay tuned for your updates and GO BULLS!