IRVING, TEXAS (March 2, 2008) UTEP, SMU, UAB and Houston each earned first-round byes at the 2008 Conference USA Women’s Basketball Championship, set to be held March 6-9 at the new UCF Arena in Orlando, Fla.
The No. 19/23 Miners have experienced a season of firsts as they became the first team in C-USA history to complete the league regular season schedule without a loss (16-0), going 8-0 at home and 8-0 on the road. The 2008 C-USA regular season champion enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed with an overall record of 25-2 and winners of the nation’s longest winning streak of 21 games. UTEP also has produced back-to-back 20-plus win seasons for the first time in program history.
The Miners are a very balanced team as four players average better than 10 points per game. Leading the pack is the guard duo of Jareica Hughes and Natasha Lacy. Hughes tops the team with 13.5 ppg, followed by Lacy’s 12.6 and Izabela Piekarska 12.0. Senior Kasia Krezel also contributes 11.3 ppg.
The Miners will play the 8 p.m. EST game on Friday, March 7 and face the winner of Thursday’s first-round game between No. 8 seed East Carolina, defending its 2007 C-USA Championship title, and No. 9 seed Rice. The two teams met earlier today in Houston with Rice winning its home game, 69-62.
The Lady Pirates are averaging 67.6 ppg and hitting 33.4 percent from 3-point territory, second best in the conference. ECU is led by junior LaCoya Terry, who is averaging 15.4 ppg, while fellow junior Jasmine Young is averaging 14.4 points . Senior Nicole Days leads the squad with 7.7 rpg, while Young tops the club in assists with 6.5 a contest.
Rice has reached the C-USA championship game for the last two seasons. The Owls (13-17, 6-10 C-USA) are currently riding a three-game winning streak heading into tournament play. Since the return of senior Valeriya Berezhynska to the lineup, the Owls have won five of their last eight games. Berezhynska was sidelined with an ankle injury for the first eight C-USA games. The 6-4 center is averaging 17.3 points and 10.2 rebounds in 20 games this season.
No. 2 seed SMU finished the season 21-8 and 11-5 in league play. Senior Janielle Dodds leads the Mustangs with 14.9 ppg and 7.8 rpg.
SMU will play the first quarterfinal game at Noon on Friday, facing the winner of No. 7 seed Memphis and No. 10 seed Tulsa. Memphis, one of the most improved teams in C-USA, finished league play at 7-9 and sports a 10-19 overall mark. The team is averaging 66.6 points and 39.5 rebounds, while shooting 38.4 percent from the field and 66.4 percent from the line. Junior guard Jessica Hall leads the team in scoring, averaging 12.9 ppg, while junior forward Ashley Thornton leads the team in rebounding at 7.1 per game. This is the Tigers highest tournament seed since 2004.
Tulsa carries a record of 10-19 and 6-10 into C-USA championship week. The Golden Hurricane is holding opponents to 63.4 ppg. The team is led by Larrissa Williams, who is a double-double threat. The sophomore averages 14.1 ppg to go along with 9.7 rpg.
UAB, winners of two of its last three games, sports a No. 3 seed with an overall record of 14-15 and finished 10-6 in C-USA action. The Blazers are led by seniors Diamond Rogers and Crystal McFadden. Rogers had led the conference in scoring for most of the season, averaging 16.7 ppg. McFadden added 13.4 ppg.
The Blazers will face Game 2 winner between No. 6 seed Marshall and No. 11 seed Tulane. Both games will tip at approximately 2:30 p.m. EST. Marshall and Tulane each upset a top four seed in the regular season finale. Marshall upended Houston (78-74), while Tulane shocked SMU (71-68).
Tulane, the 2007 C-USA regular season champion, is led by an outstanding junior guard in Ashley Langford. Langford tops the league in assist/turnover ratio with a 1.95 and ranks fourth with a 5.36 assists per game average. She also tops the Green Wave with 11.8 ppg, followed by freshman Brittany Lindsey’s 10.3 ppg.
Marshall is the No. 6 seed and sports an overall mark of 15-15 and went 7-9 in league action. Head coach Royce Chadwick picked up his 500th career victory earlier this season to become the winningest coach in C-USA history and only the third coach in program history to win 100 games. The Herd is led by senior guard Kizzy Hart, who averages 14.4 ppg, eighth best in the league, while junior guard Casey Baker tops C-USA with 3.17 steals per contest.
Houston rounds out the top four seeds and will face the winner of Game 3 at 5:30 p.m. EST between No. 5 seed Southern Miss and No. 12 seed UCF. UH senior guard Twiggy McIntyre is a potent scoring threat for the Cougars and does most of her damage from the 3-point line and the free-throw line. She ranks third in the league and 21st in the nation in free-throw percentage, hitting 86.6 percent. From 3-point range, McIntyre is averaging 2.50 treys per game to lead C-USA. The Cougars average 4.2 blocked shots per game, 60th in the country and fourth in the conference. Cobilyn Hill leads that attack, blocking 2.17 shots per game, fourth in the league.
Southern Miss is averaging 72.8 points and 39.4 rebounds, while shooting a league-best 46.7 percent from the field and 76.2 percent from the line. Sophomore Pauline Love continues to lead the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging one of only two double-doubles in the league with 16.8 ppg and 11.0 rpg. She also tops the conference with 18 double-doubles on the season. Junior transfer guard Andrea Barber leads the team and the conference in assists with 6.5 per game.
No. 12 seed UCF concluded regular season action with its most wins in three seasons (10-19) under first-year head coach Joi Williams. The Knights sport two of the league’s top freshmen in Tia Lewis and Emma Cannon. Lewis, a forward/center, is the nation’s fifth-leading rebounder with 11.6 boards per game. She also averages 12.0 ppg for a double-double. Cannon adds 11.5 ppg and 8.6 rpg. As a team, UCF tops the league with a +4.5 rebounding margin and ranks fourth in field goal percentage, hitting .411.
UCF will play host to the 2008 Conference USA Women’s Basketball Tournament, March 6-9, at the new UCF Arena. Single-game and session ticket packages are now available. Call the UCFAA Ticket Sales Office at 407-823-1000.
2008 C-USA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Championship
UCF Arena, Orlando, Florida, March 6-9, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Game 1: No. 7 Memphis vs. No. 10 Tulsa 12 p.m.
Game 2: No. 6 Marshall vs. No. 11 Tulane 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 5 Southern Miss vs. No. 12 UCF 5:30 p.m.
Game 4: No. 8 East Carolina vs. No. 9 Rice 8 p.m.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Game 5: winner Game 1 vs. No. 2 SMU 12 p.m.
Game 6: winner Game 2 vs. No. 3 UAB 2:30 p.m.
Game 7: winner Game 3 vs. No. 4 Houston 5:30 p.m.
Game 8: winner Game 4 vs. No. 1 UTEP 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Game 9: winner Game 5 and 6 (CSTV) 3 p.m.
Game 10: winner Game 7 and 8 (CSTV) 5:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Game 11: winner Game 9 and 10 (ESPN2) 3:30 p.m.
All championship times are Eastern and will be played inside the new UCF Arena.
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