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FORT WORTH, Texas — Vittoria Blasigh scored 20 points, Carla Brito added 17 and No. 3-seed South Florida defeated Rice 69-62 to win the American Athletic Conference championship. The Bulls will return to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence. South Florida led 47-32 halfway through the third quarter before Malia Fisher scored six points in a 10-4 run that got Rice within 51-42 heading to the fourth quarter. Ninth-seeded Rice opened the fourth with another four points and held USF scoreless for nearly four minutes. At that point, Mama Dembele scored twice in the paint to put the Bulls back up by nine. Fisher scored in the paint to get Rice within 62-57 with 40 seconds left, then the Bulls closed out the win by making 7 of 8 free throws.
