18th-ranked USF women smokes Houston 80-51 behind Alvarez

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Maria Alvarez scored a career-high 23 points with six 3-pointers and Bethy Mununga scored 12 with 14 rebounds and No. 18-ranked South Florida blitzed Houston after intermission on the way to an 80-51 win on Saturday.

South Florida (9-1, 6-0 American Athletic Conference) has won eight straight.

With a 44-38 halftime lead, the Bulls put the clamps on Houston (5-4, 2-3 American Athletic Conference), holding the the Cougars to 13% shooting in the third quarter and outscoring them 19-5. Miya Crump was the only Cougar to score in the third as they missed 13 of 15-shot attempts.

Elisa Pinzan scored 11 points and distributed 14 of South Florida's 22 assists. Sydni Harvey and Elena Tsineke each scored 12.

Crump scored 16 and Julia Blackshell-Fair 10 for Houston.

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More AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25.