Feb. 25, 2008

IRVING, Texas - Conference USA heads into its last weekend of action with the top two teams locked up as the UTEP Miners (23-2, 14-0 C-USA) claimed the regular season title outright with wins at Southern Miss and UCF last weekend. SMU (21-6, 11-3 C-USA) earned the No. 2 slot with home victories against state rivals Houston and Rice.

C-USA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK & STATISTICS

UAB currently sits at the No. 3 slot with a 9-5 league record, followed by Houston's 8-6 mark and 7-7 performances by Southern Miss and East Carolina. The top-four seeds earn a first round bye in the upcoming C-USA Championship.

The 2008 C-USA Women's Basketball Championship is slated for March 6-9 in Orlando, Fla. The event will be hosted by UCF at the new 10,000-seat UCF Arena. All 12 teams will participate in the tournament, which will feature four first-round games on Thursday, March 6 and four quarterfinal games on Friday, March 7.

The two semifinal games on Saturday, March 8 will be televised on CSTV with 3 and 5:30 p.m. ET tip times.

The championship game will take place on Sunday, March 9 and will be televised nationally by ESPN2 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

To purchase C-USA Women's Basketball tickets call 407-UCF-1000 or visit online at UCFathletics.com.

UTEP STEADY IN AP TOP 25 POLL; CRACKS COACHES POLL
UTEP surged into the Associated Press Top 25 Poll on Feb. 11. A week later, the Miners climbed up to No. 19 in the weekly poll with 244 points. This week, UTEP remains at No. 19 but with 321 points.

The Miners also broke into the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' top-25 poll. UTEP checked in at 25th with 61 points last week.

UTEP becomes the first C-USA program to appear in the AP Top 25 under the league's new membership, which was established in 2005-06.

Current member Houston was the last ranked team in C-USA. The Cougars appeared at No. 9 in the final AP Poll in 2003-04. UH's No. 9 ranking remains the highest by any C-USA member, current or former.

During the 2003-04 campaign, the league had three teams (DePaul, Houston, TCU) to appear among the USA Today/Coaches Top 25 Poll six different weeks.

Only two teams have gone through the conference schedule with just one loss. DePaul achieved a 13-1 C-USA record twice (1995-96 and 2004-05), while Houston did so most recently in 2003-04.

No program in league history has marched through the conference schedule untouched. UTEP has two games remaining to claim this honor. The Miners also became the first program to earn a flawless road record of 8-0 this season.

MINER RECORDS:
UTEP owns a program-best and C-USA record for most consecutive wins with 19.

Tied for the most NCAA Division I most consecutive wins (19) with UT-Chattanooga.

Owns the league's best start in conference play at 14-0. Previous best was Memphis who went 11-0 during the 1997-98 campaign.

UTEP has won a program-best nine consecutive road games.

The Miners have a program-best start at 23-2, and are off to their best opening in league play through 14 games at 14-0.

PONY UP
SMU has improved to 21-6, and riding a seven-game winning streak heading into the final weekend of C-USA action. SMU's 21 victories in the regular season play are the most in the history of the program, while the Ponies have won five-straight road games for the first time since 1988-89. The Ponies are just one win shy of tying the school record for most overall wins. The 1999-2000 club went 22-9 en route to winning the Western Athletic title and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Championship. In addition, the Mustangs have won their last five games by an average of 24.6 points per game. Senior center Janielle Dodds leads the team in scoring (15.0 ppg) and rebounds (7.8 rpg), and is closing in on the all-time career marks in both categories - she needs 14 points and 11 rebounds to become the Mustangs' all-time leader in both categories.

C-USA NOTEABLE
UCF reached its most wins, with nine, in three seasons with a 77-71 win over Tulane on Feb. 22, inside the new UCF Arena. Six Knights scored in double figures in that game, led by freshman guard Chelsie Wiley's team-high 14 points.

Southern Miss has a pair of 1,000-point scorers on its team this season, marking the time a this has happened since Nedra Hosey and Patrica Nash did so in 1995-96. Juniors Amber Eugene and Kendra Reed surpassed this milestone earlier this season, Eugene just last weekend.

UPCOMING GAMES (ALL TIMES CT)
FEBRUARY
Thursday, 28
Southern Miss at Memphis 7 p.m.
East Carolina at Houston 7 p.m.
Marshall at Rice 7 p.m.
Tulsa at Tulane 7 p.m.
UCF at UAB 7 p.m.
SMU at #19/25 UTEP (CSTV) 7:05 p.m.

MARCH
Saturday, 1
Marshall at Houston 1 p.m.
UCF at Memphis 2 p.m.
East Carolina at Rice 2 p.m.
Southern Miss at UAB 2 p.m.
Tulsa at #19/25 UTEP 2:05 p.m.
SMU at Tulane (CSTV) 5 p.m.

All C-USA games

C-USA CO-PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
JAREICA HUGHES, UTEP
5-3, Sophomore, Guard, Southfield, Mich.
Hughes has been named C-USA co-Player of the Week after leading UTEP to the first women's basketball regular season title in the 34-year history of the program. The Miners picked up a pair of road wins to clinch the crown outright Sunday. Hughes averaged 21 points, 8.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds on 63.6 percent shooting from the floor (14-of-22). She accounted for 19 points, eight assists and four rebounds in the 73-72 overtime win at Southern Miss. Hughes nailed back-to-back 3s to cut the Eagles nine-point lead to three with 2:33 remaining. Hughes then stole the ball and set up Natasha Lacy for the game-tying-three to send the contest into overtime. Hughes contributed 23 points, nine assists and three rebounds to help lead the Miners to a 89-74 win against UCF. She hit all five attempted shots and registered six assists in the opening 20 minutes give UTEP a 15-point advantage at the break.

JANIELLE DODDS, SMU
6-3, Senior, Center, Fairfax, Va.
Dodds had a strong week where she averaged a solid 22.5 points and 9.5 rebounds, while hitting 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from the floor. She also connected on 15-of-16 attempted free throws for a 93.8 accuracy as well as blocked a pair of shots, pocketed three thefts and had three assists. She collected her seventh double-double of the season, and 37th of her career, with 24 points and 10 rebounds against Rice. She also had 21 points and nine boards against Houston.SMU locked up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming C-USA Championship with home wins against Rice, 80-68, and UH, 85-74, last week.

TEAM CAPSULES
East Carolina (13-14, 7-7 C-USA)
Despite four players scoring in double figures, East Carolina dropped a heartbreaker to Memphis Saturday afternoon at Minges Coliseum in the final home game of the regular season.

Junior G LaCoya Terry led the Lady Pirates with 14 points and four rebounds while junior G Jasmine Young chipped in 12 points, a career-high nine rebounds and five assists. Senior F Nicole Days closed out her ECU home career with her fourth career double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down a career-tying 16 caroms.

The Lady Pirates will close out the regular season on the road, as they travel to Houston, Texas to play the Cougars on Thursday and will face Rice on Saturday.

Houston (14-14, 8-6 C-USA)
Houston was undone by a slow start to the second half and dropped its fifth-straight game, 85-74, at SMU Saturday in Moody Coliseum.

Houston won the battle of the boards 40-37 and also outscored the Mustangs in the paint 38-34.

Senior G Twiggy McIntyre led all players with 25 points. She was 7-for-11 from the field and 4-for-5 from behind the 3-point line. Freshmen Cobilyn Hill and Courtney Taylor both tallied double-doubles. Taylor had 13 points and 11 boards off the bench and Hill scored 14 along with 10 rebounds.Senior G Tye Jackson scored 10 points along with eight assists.

Houston finishes out the regular season this week, returning to Hofheinz Pavilion for the first time in over two weeks. The Cougars will face East Carolina Thursday at 7 p.m. CST before taking on Marshall at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Marshall (14-14, 6-8 C-USA)
Sophomore G/F Alyssa Hammond recorded 12 points, 10 coming from the foul line, but UAB handed host Marshall a 60-48 loss Saturday evening at the Cam Henderson Center.

While Hammond was the only MU player in double-digits, several others put forth solid efforts. Sophomore G Alix Barnette went 4-of-6 en route to a nine-point game. Junior G Casey Baker grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while scoring six points and tallying four steals and four assists. Sophomore G Chantelly Handy notched six rebounds and four points.

Senior Kizzy Hart, Melody Hudson and Meagan Samis played their last home game for the Herd Satuday. Hart finished the game with seven points, Hudson tallied six, while Samis scored four.

The Herd wraps up the regular season with a trip to Houston to face Rice on Thursday before squaring off against Houston on Saturday.

Memphis (9-18, 6-8 C-USA)
Junior G Paris Leonard drew a charge with 0.5 seconds remaining in the game to seal Memphis' first-ever win at East Carolina, 61-59, Saturday.

Memphis had battled back from a 55-51 deficit with 4:53 remaining to force a tie at 57-57 off a Leonard three with 1:52 to play.

Junior P Jessica Jackson led Memphis with 18 points, 12 in the first half, adding nine rebounds and four blocks in 31 minutes. Leonard finished with 14 points, while freshman G Alex Winchell finished with 10 points and two assists in 38 minutes of play.

Memphis was without leading scorer junior G Jessica Hall for the game, due to a shoulder injury in the last minute of the first half at Marshall Thursday.

The Lady Tigers will return home for their final homestand of the regular season. Memphis hosts Southern Miss, Thursday, at 7 p.m. and UCF at 2 p.m Saturday.

Rice (11-17, 4-10 C-USA)
Senior C Valeriya Berezhynska became the 15th player in Rice history to eclipse 1,000 career points and the Owls defeated Tulsa 57-49 behind a strong second-half effort Saturday evening at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Berezhynska notched her second consecutive double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Her three-point play with 5:09 left put her over 1,000 career points and gave the Owls a 47-45 lead.

Rice would never trail again after Berezhynska's three-point play and scored 10 of the final 14 points down the stretch, including all six free throws in the last 62 seconds for the final margin of 57-49.

Rice squares off with Marshall and East Carolina this weekend to wrap up the regular season. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. Thursday against the Thundering Herd at HBU's Sharp Gym. The Owls celebrate Senior Day 2 p.m. Saturday against the Pirates.

SMU (21-6, 11-3 C-USA)
Senior C Janielle Dodds scored 21 points, and three other Mustangs scored in double figures, to lead SMU to an 85-74 win over Houston Saturday afternoon at Moody Coliseum. The win gives the Mustangs seven straight and 21 victories on the year. The 21 regular-season wins are the most in school history.

Saturday's victory marked the 10th game in which Dodds scored 20 or more points, and raised her career scoring total to 1,772 points.

In addition to Dodds' 21 points, the Mustangs also got 18 points from sophomore F Delisha Wills, 17 from sophomore G Jillian Samuels and 14 from senior F Sharee Shepherd. Dodds and Wills also led the Mustangs with nine rebounds apiece.

The Mustangs now head out on the road to face UTEP at 7 p.m. Thursday and Tulane at 5 p.m. Both games will be televised nationally by CSTV.

Southern Miss (16-11, 4-7 C-USA)
Southern Miss closed out the game on a 15-0 run, posting a 72-57 win over Tulane and helping lone senior Liz Biland go out on a high note in her last game in Reed Green Coliseum.

Trailing 26-21 with 1:55 to go before the half, Southern Miss then outscored Tulane 6-0 to end the half with a 32-21 lead.

Sophomore F Pauline Love recorded her 17th double-double of the season with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Sophomore C Stephaine Helgeson scored 17 points, followed by junior G Kendra Reed with 15 and junior G Amber Eugene chipping in 13.

Southern Miss closes out its regular schedule with two critical road games at Memphis on Thursday and UAB on Saturday.

The Lady Eagles are currently tied for fifth-place in the league's standing with an identical 7-7 record with East Carolina.

Tulane (14-13, 4-10 C-USA)
Junior G Ashley Langford scored 14 of her team-high 16 points in the second half but Tulane suffered a 72-57 loss at Southern Miss Sunday inside Reed Green Coliseum.

Freshman F Brittany Lindsey added 14 points and six assists, while senior G Nikki Luckhurst chipped in nine points and six rebounds. The Green Wave forced 24 turnovers and scored 20 points off USM turnovers. Lindsey and Langford each picked up three of Tulane's 14 steals on the afternoon.

Tulane wraps up the regular season on Thursday against Tulsa at Fogelman Arena at 7 p.m. CT. The Green Wave's final regular season home game will be against SMU on Saturday at 5 p.m. live on CSTV.

Tulsa (10-17, 6-8 C-USA)
Sophomore F/C Larrissa Williams tallied a game-best 21 points for Tulsa, but it wasn't enough as the Golden Hurricane dropped a 57-49 decision to Rice on Saturday night at the Donald W. Reynolds Center.

Williams also had a team-best nine rebounds, while freshman G ReShawndra Jackson added 11 points. Junior F/C Chanel Johnson had a game-best four blocks, and freshman C Kara Vaughan had three steals.

Both teams traded baskets and the lead, but the Golden Hurricane took control with a little more than three minutes to play in the half and took a 29-22 advantage into the break.

In the second half, TU maintained the lead until Morgan Mayse hit a three with 6:36 remaining to give the Owls a 44-41 advantage.

Tulsa will return to action on Thursday against Tulane. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in New Orleans, La.

UAB (13-14, 9-5 C-USA)
UAB earned a 60-48 win at Marshall Saturday in the Blazers' final road game of the regular season. Junior G Britney Jones paced the squad with 19 points.

Jones' 19 points were accompanied by three rebounds, four steals and three assists. Senior G Crystal McFadden had 14 points and game-high numbers in rebounding (8) and assists (6).

The Blazers shot 39.3 percent for the game, including 36.0 percent from three-point range and 70.0 percent from the free throw line.

Up next for the Blazers is a C-USA contest with UCF Thursday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT at Bartow Arena.

UCF (9-18, 2-12 C-USA)
UCF rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to come within four points of No. 19/25 UTEP in the second half Sunday, but the Miners hung on for an 89-74 win in the New UCF Arena.

The game marked the final regular-season home contest for the Knights in the 2007-08 campaign. Freshman G Marshay White led four Knights in double-figure scoring, tying her career-high 23 points. White tied her career high by hitting all three attempted treys. Freshman F Tia Lewis, who entered the game as the nation's fourth-leading rebounder, added 15 points and had a team-best eight rebounds. Freshman F Emma Cannon scored 12 points and came up with a career-high six steals. Freshman G Chelsie Wiley also scored in double figures for the fourth consecutive game with 11 points.

UCF returns to action Thursday when it travels to Birmingham, Ala., to face UAB. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. EST. The Knights close regular season play at Memphis on Saturday.

UTEP (23-2, 14-0 C-USA)
No. 19/25 UTEP jumped out to an early double-digit lead and picked up an 89-74 win at UCF Sunday afternoon, securing the 2008 Conference USA regular-season title in the process.

It is the first conference championship in the 34-year history of the women's basketball program.

All five starters reached double figures, which pushed the Miners' to a season-high 89 points. UTEP connected on a solid 56.7 percent from the floor the seventh-highest figure in program history. The Miners also dished 27 assists, to match the second-best sum in school annals.

The Knights made it interesting in the second stanza, three times closing to within four points. Each time the Orange and Blue responded, eventually pulling away for the 15-point triumph.

The Miners will be back in action on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. against SMU at the Don Haskins Center. The contest will be carried live by CSTV.