Top-seeded South Florida holds off Wichita St.; advances to semifinals

FORT WORTH, Texas — Sydni Harvey scored 14 points and No. 20 USF, the top seed in the Air Force Reserve American Athletic Conference Championship, avoided a major upset on Tuesday with a 48-44 win over ninth-seeded Wichita State in the quarterfinals.

Elena Tsineke added 12 points for the Bulls (16-3), who overcame 24.6% shooting (15 of 61) and 16 turnovers. They will play fourth-seeded Temple in the semifinals on Wednesday.

Bethy Mununga, who averages 11.2 points, was limited to three points on three shots, but she grabbed 15 rebounds, seven on the offensive end where the Bulls had an 18-9 advantage for a 14-5 difference in second-chance points.

It was South Florida’s worst shooting game of the season and they barely avoided a season-low in points from the regular-season finale when they lost to UCF 58-45, shooting 25.5%.

Trajata Colbert scored 13 points for the Shockers (5-14), Mariah McCully added 11 and Seraphine Bastin 10 with eight rebounds and six assists. Asia Strong had 13 rebounds. Wichita State was just 1 of 11 from 3-point range, shot 32.8% overall (19 of 58) and had 22 turnovers.

Colbert’s three-point play to open the fourth quarter put the Shockers on top 38-37 but Tsineke and Harvey countered with baskets inside and the Bulls stayed ahead the rest of the way. Bastin cut the deficit to one point with 5:02 to go but the Shockers missed their next four shots until Colbert’s bucket with less than 10 seconds to go.

Wichita State led 25-20 at halftime as the Bulls shot 20 percent.