USF opens Kristy Curry era with dominant win over Furman

TAMPA, Fla. — Behind a smothering defense and a selfless offense, the South Florida Bulls ran away from the Furman Paladins 80-54 on Monday night at the Yuengling Center in Tampa

It didn’t take long for the Bulls (1-0) to set the tone in Kristy Curry’s debut as USF head coach. They jumped out to a 27-12 lead after the first quarter, and the Bulls scored 27 or more points in a single quarter just three times all of last season.

“Furman is a really good team. They are picked to win their league. That’s a really great win for us, and it puts us in a position to continue to get better,” Curry said after the game, who is now 3-1 in her first game as a head coach across her four stops.

The Bulls’ defense was stifling all night, holding the Paladins to 33% shooting from the floor. Furman (0-1) made just four of its 18 3-point attempts. Last season, Furman ranked second in the Southern Conference in field-goal percentage.

USF’s guards hounded Furman’s ballhandlers up and down the 94 feet throughout the game. The Bulls’ defensive pressure led to plenty of baskets on the other end of the floor, including 13 steals as part of Furman 17 turnovers overall. USF turned those mistakes into 18 fast-break points and 21 points off turnovers.

The Bulls were led by graduate guard Stefanie Ingram, who finished with 15 points and five assists. She was one of six Bulls to reach double figures in scoring. Senior Clemson transfer guard Hannah Kohn and junior Purdue transfer forward Kendall Puryear added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

“We have a group that is committed to giving full effort on defense,” said Ingram after the game. “That pressure helps us win.

“This is a selfless group right now, and I love how they care about each other and share the basketball. I think that when you can have that type of mentality on offense, it obviously affects the defensive end, and they care down there as well. So it was great to see us play team basketball on both sides,” Curry said.

USF assisted on 18 of its 32 made field goals and shot 52% from the floor.

The Bulls also dominated on the glass, outrebounding Furman 48-25. USF hauled in 20 offensive rebounds, which led to 16 second-chance points.

The Paladins were led by junior forward Clare Coyle, who had 15 points and five rebounds. Junior guard Alyssa Ervin added 14 points.

But there was also room for some fun via a now-viral and, um, interesting style from the charity stripe by the Bulls Purdue transfer Kendall Puryear.

Up next USF will head to Nashville to play Belmont on Friday and Rhode Island on Sunday at the Curb Event Center.