A year after winning the WNIT, the USF women’s basketball team’s bid to repeat as WNIT champs fizzled fast Thursday night.

The Bulls lost 61-54 at Florida, committing 21 turnovers and shooting only 26.7 percent (20 of 75). Click here and here to read more about the game.

In some ways, Thursday’s loss seemed a fitting end to perhaps Coach Jose Fernandez’s most difficult season in his 10 years leading the program.

The Bulls (15-16) suffered key injuries (Jasmine Wynne), suspensions (Janae Stokes, Sequoyah Griffin, Dominique English) and defections (Jessica Monroe). They also played without leading rebounder Porche Grant, who took a season off for personal reasons but is expected back next season.

All the turmoil left Fernandez with only eight players at the end of the season. The Bulls’ season-ending loss Thursday ensured USF its first losing season in six years.

While this season didn’t go exactly as Fernandez had expected – he was sick at the start of the season, forcing the postponement of USF raising the WNIT banner to the rafters of the Sun Dome – he remains optimistic that next season will be better.

A major reason is the addition of Gulf Coast Community College guard Andrea Smith, who was named JuCo Player of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

A 5-foot-8 guard from Lakeland, Smith averaged 17.2 points and 4.6 rebounds as a sophomore at GCCC in Panama City. Her twin sister, Andrell, is also a part of USF’s 2010 recruiting class.

Andrea Smith will be honored April 6 in San Antonio at the WBCA National Convention.

The Bulls also have two transfers already on the roster – Sasha Bernard, a 5-foot-6 point guard who played 10 games at Indiana last season; and former Alabama player Daleisha Carn, who will be eligible at the start of next season.

The Bulls lose seniors Jessica Lawson (26 points, 12 rebounds vs. Florida on Thursday), Melissa Dalembert, Allyson Speed and Stokes.

Whether Griffin and English will return to the team remains uncertain.