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Women's hoops team look for improvementBy ROD GIPSON © St. Petersburg Times, published January 19, 2001 TAMPA -- The USF women's basketball team has lost five in a row, nine of its past 10 and been outscored by an average of 17 points in those losses. The Bulls have sunk to 3-13 overall and 0-5 in Conference USA's National Division and play three of its next five games on the road. A bleak picture? Maybe. Or maybe not. Take a look at last season. Outside of fattening up on non-conference opponents and starting 10-1, the Bulls slumped during the regular season. They went 0-12 during one stretch and 0-4 during another. The Bulls finished 12-17 with just two conference victories. But that's when something unique happened. The Bulls went into the league tournament as the 12th seed but defeated No. 5-seeded DePaul 82-69 to win its first post-season game since joining C-USA. The Bulls were ousted in the next round but played tough there, too, falling 60-59 to No. 4 seed Southern Mississippi. Poor shooting and rebounding has plagued the Bulls this season as have injuries that have seen nine players start games. However, first-year coach Jose Fernandez still has some positives his players can focus on. "The main thing for us is to get to a point where we're playing with some consistency," Fernandez said. "We're doing some things well. We're playing with a lot of effort, and we just need to keep working and improve on what we are doing." First up for the Bulls, who have been held to less than 40 points in their past two losses, is Sunday's game at Houston. The Cougars have won three in a row, are 11-6 overall and in first place in C-USA's National Division at 4-1. One of those conference victories came Jan. 2 against the Bulls in the league opener for both teams. Following that, USF returns to the Corral for games against Alabama-Birmingham (Jan. 26) and Memphis (Jan. 28). Against the Blazers, USF will face the league's top scorer in forward Deanna Jackson and her 26 points a game. Then it's back on the road for games at Saint Louis (Feb. 2) and Charlotte (Feb. 4). At 0-5 and in their division cellar, the Bulls are still just three games out of second place. And they will face two of the three teams ahead of them during the upcoming stretch of games. "I am pleased with some things," said Fernandez, who has had just two players start every game this year. "The girls are working hard. There is no question with the amount of energy they are showing." In Aiya Shepard and Denetrice Stinson, Fernandez has two of Conference USA's top-10 scorers. Shepard is seventh at 16 points per game. Stinson is 10th at 14 points per game. In guard Shannon Layne (10 points per game), who is second in the league in three-pointers with 36, the Bulls have a third double-figure scorer. "At some points, we've been limited at what we could do," Fernandez said. "But we just have to focus on some things and get a little better."
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