Jespersen has 28, No. 22 USF women top SMU 64-54

Feb 15, 2018, 02:04 am

TAMPA, Fla. -- Maria Jespersen scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her 14th double-double and No. 22 South Florida won its sixth straight Wednesday night, defeating SMU 64-54.

Jespersen had 10 points in the third quarter when the Bulls (21-5, 10-2 American) stretched a 22-18 halftime lead to 45-31. The Mustangs (10-16, 4-9) cut the lead to six with 1:10 to play but USF made 7 of 8 free throws in the final minute to secure the win.

Kitija Laksa, coming off a career-high 41 points that led to big win over ranked Ohio State and got the Bulls ranked after a six-week absence, added 16 points on 4-of-16 shooting.

Kiara Perry led SMU, which is 0-12 against USF and is 0-12 on the road this season, with 18 points.

The teams shot a combined 13 of 63 (21 percent) in the first half.