Wake Forest University
South Florida (WNIT 2nd Round)
Women's Basketball Cruises to Third Round Of WNIT
3/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 21, 2005
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Senior Erin Ferrell had a career night, pulling down 20 rebounds, along with 18 points, leading the Wake Forest women's basketball team to a 78-63 victory over South Florida in the second round of the Sportsview.tv Women's National Invitational Tournament, Monday night in Joel Coliseum.
With the win, the Demon Deacons improve to 17-14 overall, giving the program the most wins since the 1987-88 season, while South Florida closes its year with a 21-11 overall record.
Ferrell, who hit her 1,000th career point against Charlotte, pulled down her 600th career rebound early in the first half, making her the just the fifth Demon Deacon to reach the 1,000/600 milestone. Earning her 10th double-double of the season and second in a row, Ferrell is the first Wake Forest player since China Robinson in 2001 to earn 20 boards in a single game.
Junior Liz Strunk led Wake in scoring for the 12th time this season with the game-high 19 points shooting 5-for-7 from the field and was one board away from a double-double. Fellow junior Cotelia Bond-Young added 17, along with five assists, while redshirt sophomore Porsche' Jones added 15 points.
Wake jumped out to a small lead to start things off, but the Bulls jumped in and took the lead with an 8-0 run. Chipping away at the five point deficit between the teams, a three pointer by Ferrell knotted the score at 16 all, but South Florida jumped back out ahead scoring the next two. Keeping the score within four, Bond-Young hit a pair of three's, followed by a two from Ferrell underneath with about six minutes left pushing Wake ahead. Holding onto it, Wake increased the gap to 11 going into the break.
The Deacs held onto their lead during the second stanza, despite a three minute scoreless gap in the beginning. Running the Bulls up and down the court, Wake continued to hold onto its 10 point lead, and held South Florida to just 25 percent shooting in the second. On the night, the Bulls shot 36.4 percent from the floor, while the Deacs finished with 50 percent shooting.
Anedra Gilmore was one of four Bulls to score in double figures with 16, while Ezria Parsons pulled down the team high seven boards. As a team, South Florida had 10 steals, with three of them from Gilmore.
With the win, the Deacs will move onto the third round of the WNIT, face West Virginia, Thursday night in Morgantown. Game time will be announced at a later date.
