South Florida women lead wire-to-wire in shocking upset of No. 9 Duke

The South Florida Bulls held a commanding 20-6 lead after the first quarter and never trailed the entire game in a 65-56 upset of No. 9 Duke on Saturday.

While South Florida only attempted nine threes in the game, the Bulls made five of them and shot 46 percent from the field overall.

South Florida’s leading scorer was Sammie Puisis (23 points). L’or Mputu had 17 points (8-for-11) and 11 rebounds, including this offensive rebound and putback four minutes into the third quarter, which extended the Bulls’ lead to 38-24.

After Duke cut into the South Florida lead and made it a five-point game early in the fourth quarter, Puisis made this three-pointer to answer the run and give South Florida a 47-39 lead with just over eight minutes left.

The Blue Devils had trouble finding the bottom of the net throughout the game. Duke was only 38.9 percent from the field and 4-for-17 (23.5 percent) from long range.

The only Duke player in double figures was Toby Fournier, who scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench. Duke’s starting five combined to shoot 12-for-36, which could spell trouble for the Blue Devils as they prepare for their upcoming ACC slate.

While South Florida had lost six games and four of its last six games before Saturday, four of the Bulls’ six losses have come against ranked opponents. South Florida will likely need more three-point shots to go down than their five on Saturday. However, if they can shoot at the rate they did against Duke, this could be a sign of good things for the Bulls.

South Florida (7-6) opens up AAC play at Rice on Dec. 29, while Duke (10-3, 1-0 ACC) will have nearly two weeks off before resuming ACC play against Boston College on Jan. 2.