Texas

USF women top North Texas in AAC tourney, now 1 win from NCAA berth

Published

1 year ago

March 12, 2025

USF women top North Texas in AAC tourney, now 1 win from NCAA berth

An outspoken opponent of March Madness selection criteria, USF coach Jose Fernandez has openly bemoaned the advanced metrics steeped in NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings that seem to marginalize his team’s daunting non-conference schedule.

But with one more victory, those metrics won’t matter.

“We’re 40 minutes away from going to the NCAA Tournament,” Fernandez said.

Despite a disastrous third quarter, the No. 3-seeded Bulls (22-10) still led wire to wire in a 58-48 victory against No. 2 North Texas in Tuesday night’s American Athletic Conference tournament semifinals in Fort Worth, Texas.

USF will earn an automatic NCAA bid — its fourth in five seasons — with a triumph in Wednesday night’s title game against No. 9-seeded Rice, which stunned No. 1 UTSA in Monday’s quarterfinals. Tipoff on ESPNU is set for 7 p.m.

If the Bulls can replicate Tuesday’s first half for 40 minutes, Sunday night’s women’s selection show will become must-see TV in Tampa.

Exerting more energy and crispness, the Bulls built a 12-point first-quarter lead and increased their advantage to 15 by halftime. USF’s defense forced 13 first-half turnovers and held the Mean Green to seven field goals in the first 20 minutes.

But faster than you can say March Madness, the momentum vanished. The Bulls managed only two field goals in the third quarter, finishing 2 of 13 from the floor as North Texas gradually chipped away at its deficit.

“They came at us,” Fernandez said. “I didn’t like the way we were playing east to west instead of getting downhill, getting down to the basket.”

The Mean Green trimmed their lead to one, 39-38, with a 7-0 spurt early in the fourth, capped by Ereauna Hardaway’s fast-break layup. That prompted Fernandez to call a timeout, leading to the game’s most decisive spurt.

Sammie Puisis’ difficult jumper in the paint sparked an 8-0 USF run that ended with Vittoria Blasigh’s pull-up 3-pointer.

“We’ve just got to answer, and we’ve got to respond. That’s what we talked about in the timeout, and they responded,” Fernandez said. “I go, ‘Listen man, we’ve just got to be loose. Let’s just play, but we need to attack them.’ I thought we were really stagnant in what we started to do.”

Blasigh (team-high 13 points), mildly criticized by her coach in the past for not shooting enough, then delivered a dagger of sorts with another 3-pointer — this one from the top of the key — with 1:40 to play, giving USF a 52-44 lead.

“It was amazing,” said Blasigh, a 5-foot-9 sophomore from Italy.

“We had the feeling that we had plenty of energy all the game. It doesn’t matter if they came back, we feel like we stuck together the whole game and that was the most important thing.”

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Texas

Opal Lee’s granddaughter advocates for “Grandmother of Juneteenth” to be included in Texas curriculum

Published

4 hours ago

April 8, 2026

Press Room

Opal Lee’s granddaughter advocates for “Grandmother of Juneteenth” to be included in Texas curriculum

The granddaughter of Dr. Opal Lee, famously known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” was in Austin Tuesday to advocate for the inclusion her grandmother in Texas’ Juneteenth curriculum.

Dr. Lee is nearly 100 years old and lives in Fort Worth. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2024 and was by President Biden’s side when he made Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021.

“I want to petition for her to be a required person to study Juneteenth,” said granddaughter Dione Sims. “People that have to do with freedom, liberty, and unity; she’s the embodiment of that. Helping to get Juneteenth as a national holiday, I think deserves to be mentioned.”

Sims testified in front of the State Board of Education Tuesday night. A final decision is expected in June.

Lee, born in 1926, played a crucial role in making Juneteenth a federal holiday. The North Texas icon walked two and a half miles every Juneteenth to symbolize the two and a half years it took for enslaved people in Texas to learn they were free, after the Emancipation Proclamation. In 2016, she walked from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to raise awareness.

She didn’t participate in the 2025 walk after being hospitalized.

Lee has also been honored with a Barbie doll that celebrates her advocacy as part of its Inspiring Women collection.

Sims previously discussed expanding Lee’s walk across all 50 states, preserving her grandmother’s legacy with a walk in one city in each state.

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Texas

North Texas Iranian Americans fear for families amid Trump’s threats against Iran

Published

16 hours ago

April 7, 2026

Press Room

North Texas Iranian Americans fear for families amid Trump’s threats against Iran

Tensions are rising between the United States and Iran, as a deadline from President Donald Trump fuels concerns about potential military action.

Just hours before President Trump’s deadline for Iran to accept a deal or face military consequences, Iranian Americans in North Texas feared for their relatives on the ground, saying the focus should stay on the people of Iran.

“We’re in a wartime, so everyone’s worried and following the news,” said Homeira Hesami, the chairwoman for the Iranian American Community of North Texas. “The internet’s still being down, you know, we don’t have a very secure way to communicate with our family and friends back home, so sometimes, you know, they may be able to call out, but it’s very patchy.”

Tuesday, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not open the Strait of Hormuz, following similar threats he made on Easter Sunday. TCU Political Science Professor Ralph Carter offered this perspective on the potential loss of life.

“In the worst-case scenario, President Trump carries out massive attacks against civilian targets, killing thousands or even millions of people, then I think Congress has to act,” said Carter.

Carter added that targeting an entire civilization could amount to a war crime and raises serious questions about Mr. Trump’s legal authority. He said this also shakes up the U.S.’s relationships with its allies.

“I do think that Iran will survive, whatever happens,” Carter said. “I think the Iranian people will be united in a rally around the flag phenomenon to defend their homeland against an aggressor, and I think, again, this is one of those things where a weaker power outlasts a stronger power, because the stronger power gets tired of the price they have to pay to try to get a victory.”

Hesami believes change in Iran must come from the Iranian people, not through foreign intervention.

“War has proven that sometimes it is not the solution, and the solution is relying on the Iranian people and their organized resistance,” she said.

Less than two hours before his deadline for Iran to either cut a deal with the U.S. or face massive strikes on its power plants, Mr. Trump said he agreed to a “double sided CEASEFIRE” with Iran.

“I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” the president wrote on Truth Social.

He said the ceasefire, which he agreed to at Pakistan’s request, was “subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz.”