Stefanie Ingram helped lead USF through late coaching change

TAMPA, Fla. — It’s a new era for the University of South Florida women’s basketball program, undergoing a coaching change late in the offseason.

Replacing a legend is not easy, but that is what interim coach Michele Woods-Baxter is trying to do, taking over for Jose Fernandez, who left USF after 25 years as its head coach.

“It’s been a little bit crazy for us with Jose departing. But you know what, our group was resilient, I thought everybody came, and even after his departure everybody came together,” Woods-Baxter said.

“It is what it is, we have players that get injured, and it’s next person up, and Coach B was the next person up. And she stepped up, and we’re all right behind her we all had to step up in a different role, and we’re all doing our best, which is exactly what we’re supposed to do,” USF redshirt junior Stefanie Ingram said.

Fernandez left in October, just weeks before the start of the season, and jumped to the WNBA as head coach of the Dallas Wings. The program elevated Woods-Baxter to interim head coach after 17 seasons as an assistant.

Ingram, the team’s point guard, transfered in to USF this offseason and just months after she arrived to campus, her head coach left. But she and the entire team did not skip a beat.

“Just the competitive atmosphere, like, when I first got here in the summer when Jose was here, the competitiveness was huge, and even after he left, it maintained. Like, it’s in the people that are here, and that’s really what I love about this program,” Ingram said.

“Stef’s a rock. I thought when it was tough for some of our players after coach left, I thought her and Karla both did a great job at pulling the team together and just letting them know hey we’re gonna be alright we’re gonna be fine,” Woods-Baxter said.

Ingram is from Orlando, winning back-to-back state titles at Lake Highland Prep. She took her talents to the SEC, spending two seasons at Georgia before transferring to Florida Atlantic last season. Now, she’s closer to home, playing in Tampa.

“It’s been great my family can come to the games. Yeah, it’s been really fun just having everybody here and I love Florida obviously,” Ingram said.

She looked right at home on that court, shining in nonconference play with 27 points against Duke and 23 at Vanderbilt, two power conference opponents.

“I’m a pass-first point guard, I’m not somebody that goes out there looking for my own shot specifically, but my teammates and coaches have said, ‘You gotta score, you gotta push, you have the capability for it,’ so I’ve been trusting them and trying to put the ball in the basket,” Ingram said.

The Bulls will need her to keep doing that to accomplish their goal of winning an American Conference championship.