Talaysia Cooper and No. 5 seed Tennessee will take on Sammie Puisis and No. 12 seed USF in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.

The No. 12-seeded South Florida will face off with the No. 5-seeded Tennessee in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Championship tournament in Regional 3 in Birmingham. They will take the court at the Shottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. The No. 5-seeded Volunteers ended their season with a 22-9 record overall and finished just 8-8 against teams in the SEC. They started their conference tournament in the first round with a matchup against Texas A&M, where they won by 40 points, allowing the Aggies to score just 37 points.

How to Watch Tennessee vs South Florida in Women’s College Basketball Today:

Game Date: Friday, Mar. 21, 2025

Game Time: 8 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

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They bowed out of the tournament in the second round against Vanderbilt and awaited selection Sunday. This season, Talaysia Cooper leads Tennessee in scoring, averaging 16.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 44.8% from the field. She is followed by Jewel Spear, who is averaging 13.1 points, 2.8 rbeounds, and 1.8 assists per game.

The No. 12-seeded Bulls finished their season with a 23-10 record and received an automatic bid after dominating the American Athletic Conference Championship. They finished 13-4 in their conference and opened tournament play against Tulane, taking them down by 10 points in the quarterfinal round.

In the semifinals, they beat North Texas, the conference’s No. 2 team, by 10 points, 58-48. In the final game, they downed Rice by seven points to secure a tournament berth. Senior guard Sammie Puisis leads South Florida this season, averaging 14.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and almost a steal per game in 31.2 minutes per game.

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