Senior Night for women’s basketball

Posted Mar 1, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Mar 1, 2010 at 10:20 AM

The USF women’s basketball team concludes a challenging regular season tonight (7 p.m., TV: Bright House Sports Network) at home against DePaul (19-10, 8-7).

The Bulls (15-13, 6-9 in Big East) aren’t in contention for an NCAA Tournament berth, but a seventh consecutive trip to the postseason is within reach for the defending WNIT champions. The Bulls travel to Hartford, Conn., later this week for the start of the Big East Tournament on Friday.

USF helped its bid for another NIT trip by winning at Louisville on Saturday when senior Allyson Speed hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds.

Speed’s emergence has been the Bulls’ best late-season story. After missing much of the season due to a knee injury and facing the possibility of her career being over, Speed has returned to average 11.4 points over the last five games for the shorthanded Bulls, including a career-high 24 points in Saturday’s win at Louisville.

USF has played without three key players—Janae Stokes, Dominique English and Sequoyah Griffin—for the past three weeks due to disciplinary suspensions.

Not only is tonight’s game the regular-season finale, it’s also Senior Night at the Sun Dome.

Speed and fellow seniors Jessica Lawson and Melissa Dalembert will be honored prior to the game.