Florida's defense limited South Florida to 20 of 75 shooting from the field to take a 61-54 victory in the first round of the Women's NIT on Thursday night.
The Gators (15-16) got 16 points from guard Steffi Sorensen and 15 points from Azania Stewart to knock off the defending Women's NIT champions.
South Florida (15-16) suffered through a miserable shooting night, hitting only 26.7 percent of its shots. USF was only four of 20 from 3-point range.
Bulls senior center Jessica Lawson was the only USF player in double figures, scoring 26 points on 10 of 16 shooting from the field. She added a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Bulls, who also got 11 rebounds from Melissa Dalembert, outrebounded Florida 58-37, but committed 21 turnovers.
Florida advanced to a second-round game at 2 p.m. Sunday at Miami (18-13), which beat Florida Gulf Coast on Thursday, 70-57.
The Gators jumped on top early in the first half and never looked back. Florida hit six 3-point shots among its first seven made shots to take a 20-6 lead.
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