{"id":230528,"date":"2025-10-21T18:26:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T18:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/230528\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T18:26:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T18:26:08","slug":"usf-womens-basketball-to-be-featured-on-espn-networks-at-wbca-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/230528\/","title":{"rendered":"USF Women\u2019s Basketball to Be Featured on ESPN Networks at WBCA Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>                &#13;<br \/>\n                    Story Links&#13;<br \/>\n                    &#13;<\/p>\n<p>                     TAMPA, Fla., October 21, 2025\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Women&#8217;s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Tuesday that ESPN platforms will serve as the exclusive broadcaster for the 2025 WBCA Challenge, where South Florida women&#8217;s basketball will compete against a nationally competitive field this November in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>The Bulls will face two 2025 NCAA Tournament participants during the event, which will take place at Michelob Ultra Arena.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>USF opens play against Fairfield on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. ET on ESPNU, before closing the tournament with a high-profile matchup against 2025 Final Four participant UCLA on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN+.<\/p>\n<p>Fairfield posted a 28-5 overall record and dominated the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with a 19-1 mark, claiming both the regular-season and tournament titles for the second year in a row. They earned a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament, making their seventh all-time appearance in the Big Dance.<\/p>\n<p>Two days after facing Fairfield, USF will take on UCLA, which is coming off a historic season that saw the Bruins reach their first-ever NCAA Final Four. UCLA finished the year with a program-best 34-3 record, captured the Big Ten Tournament title, and earned a No. 1 seed in their NCAA Tournament region, both for the first time in program history.<\/p>\n<p>USF enters the 2025-26 season after capturing its fourth American Athletic Conference championship with a 23-11 overall record, winning the American Postseason Tournament, and making its 10th NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/gousfbulls.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/coaches\/jose-fernandez\/5285\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"5285\" target=\"_blank\">Jose Fernandez<\/a>.\u00a0Fernandez, who enters his 26th season at the helm, led the Bulls to a No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament last year, marking the program&#8217;s 14th consecutive 19-win season and 12th 20-win season under his leadership.Head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/gousfbulls.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/coaches\/jose-fernandez\/5285\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"5285\" target=\"_blank\">Jose Fernandez<\/a> and the Bulls enter the event looking to build on their storied tradition, which includes 19 postseason appearances and 10 NCAA Tournament berths under his leadership.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to his role at South Florida, Fernandez currently serves as the president of the WBCA, beginning a two-year term in April 2025. His leadership on the national stage reflects a deep commitment to advancing the game beyond USF&#8217;s program, as he continues to advocate for the growth and visibility of women&#8217;s basketball at all levels.<\/p>\n<p>Fans wishing to attend the Inaugural WBCA Challenge in person can purchase tickets exclusively through\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axs.com\/series\/28997\/2025-wbca-challenge-tickets?skin=lva\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AXS<\/a>. All tickets are digital and must be purchased through the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axs.com\/series\/28997\/2025-wbca-challenge-tickets?skin=lva\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AXS<\/a>\u00a0website.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>2025-26 SEASON TICKETS<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nBulls fans, it&#8217;s time to lock in your seats for another exciting season of USF Basketball! The 2025-26 season promises competitive matchups and unforgettable moments at the Yuengling Center. Buy your season tickets\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/am.ticketmaster.com\/univsouthflorida\/buy?id=MTk5&amp;utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=202425wbaacconfchamp&amp;utm_content=202526bkbseasontix\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here.<\/a><br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nFOLLOW US<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nFor complete coverage of USF women&#8217;s basketball, follow the Bulls on social media (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USFWBB\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/USFWomensBasketball\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/usfwbb\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a>).<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nTICKETS\u00a0<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nFans can purchase women&#8217;s basketball tickets by calling 1-800-GoBulls or at USFBullsTix.com.<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\n\u00a0<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nABOUT SOUTH FLORIDA WOMEN&#8217;S BASKETBALL<br \/>&#13;<br \/>\nSouth Florida women&#8217;s basketball has made 19 postseason tournament appearances and had 10 NCAA Tournament berths in head coach\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/gousfbulls.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/coaches\/jose-fernandez\/5285\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gousfbulls.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/roster\/coaches\/jose-fernandez\/5285\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"5285\" target=\"_blank\">Jose Fernandez<\/a><\/a>&#8216;s 25 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided the Bulls to 12 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2008-09 WNIT championship, and has won 485 career games, and is the all-time wins leader in the American Conference&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;\n<\/p>\n<p>\u2013\u00a0#GoBulls\u00a0\u2013<\/p>\n<p>            <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; Story Links&#13; &#13; TAMPA, Fla., October 21, 2025\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Women&#8217;s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced Tuesday that ESPN&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-230528","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}