Read moreBulls give UTC women a new challenge
South Florida forward Courtney Williams scored 21 points, and she and teammate Alisia Jenkins each had a double-double in a 57-56 win over Villanova on Saturday at McKenzie Arena in the second game of the three-day Chattanooga Tip-Off Challenge.
The Bulls (1-0) led by as many as 10 points in the first half and 32-27 at halftime, but with USF guard Laura Marcos Canedo on the bench with an injury the Wildcats (0-2) charged back in the second half and took a 42-36 lead on a 3-pointer by guard Caroline Coyer.
USF reclaimed a one-point edge with 11:19 remaining, and the two teams traded the lead down the stretch. A jumper by Williams with 1:20 remaining gave the Bulls the lead for good, but they had to withstand several Villanova shots.
Villanova had a final chance to pull out the win, but Lauren Burford missed a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining and Alex Louin missed a layup attempt at the buzzer.
"Our starting point guard (Marcos Canedo) went down early, and that kind threw us out of whack," USF coach Jose Fernandez said after the game. "And we kept Katelyn Weber out -- our starting center -- because of a foot injury.
"But we did some things defensively to get out of it. We were very, very fortunate."
Contact Jim Tanner at jtanner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6478. Follow him at twitter.com/JFTanner.