{"id":180536,"date":"2026-03-06T09:40:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T09:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/180536\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T09:40:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T09:40:39","slug":"usf-senior-carla-brito-turns-senior-night-into-family-affair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/180536\/","title":{"rendered":"USF senior Carla Brito turns senior night into family affair"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"USF <\/p>\n

TAMPA, Fla. – Michelle Woods-Baxter remembers getting to know Carla Brito before she ever put on a USF Bulls<\/a> basketball jersey.<\/p>\n

“It was a fun process because we got to talk a lot on the phone so she could practice her English before she came over here,” the Bulls’ interim head coach remembers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But over the last four years, the forward from Puerto del Rosario, Spain has let her game do most of her talking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

READ: USF beach volleyball prepping for inaugural season<\/a><\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

“She’s meant a lot,” Woods-Baxter said. “Even from the time she came on her freshman year she has been huge for our program. She’s been a starter since her freshman year.”<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Over that time, Brito has cemented her legacy both on the stat sheet and by helping the Bulls reach the NCAA <\/a>Tournament twice in three years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It has been really special,” Brito said. “I think I made the best decision coming to USF. I’ve been here for four years because I love USF, I love the people and I love the culture that we have.”<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Playing so far from home, Brito came to see Tampa Bay as a second home and Bulls nation as a second family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I love Bulls Nation,” she said. “They supported me. I see them 24\/7. They gave me a lot of support.”<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

READ: USF beach volleyball excited to kick off inaugural season<\/a><\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

Despite returning home in the summer to see her family and play for the Spanish national team, Brito has never played a collegiate game in front of her family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That, however, changed when the Bulls celebrated Senior Night this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

“I was like ‘It’s my senior night, I need you guys here.'” At least for one week,” Brito remembers telling her family.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the summer, Brito convinced her family including her twin brother, her mother and father to make the trans-Atlantic trip from their home in the Canary Islands to Tampa for Carla’s senior night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I pushed them a little bit,” Brito joked. “I was like ‘Guys this is the last year. You guys need to come.'”<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

And that’s exactly what they did as one of the Bulls staples over the last four seasons was escorted onto the court for senior night with her entire family; cousins included, at her side.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It was really exciting,” Brito said. “They’re very happy to be here. It’s their first time in the U.S.”<\/p>\n

It was a trip four years in the making for the Britos, but one Carla was willing to wait for and to play for.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

READ: USF guard one of the oldest active players in college basketball: \u2018Unbelievable grit\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

What’s next:<\/p>\n

The Bulls wrap up the regular season Saturday at Tulane before playing in the American Conference Tournament starting on March 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Source: The information in the story below was gathered by FOX 13 Sports Reporter Sean Barie while on assignment at USF women’s basketball senior night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sports<\/a>College Basketball<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. – Michelle Woods-Baxter remembers getting to know Carla Brito before she ever put on a USF…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[33736,110,135,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-180536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-ncaa-basketball","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-tampa","11":"tag-tampa-headlines","12":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}