March 1, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - - The University of Memphis women's basketball team (10-19, 7-9) will be No. 7 seed and will face Tulsa in the first game of the tournament, at noon on Thursday at the2008 Conference USA Championships.

The No. 7 seed is the highest in the league championships since 2004, when the Lady Tigers were the No. 6 seed. That team defeated UAB in the first round 64-54 at Ft. Worth, then fell to No. 3 seed Louisville in the quarterfinals.

The 2008 championships will be hosted by UCF, beginning on Thursday. Memphis will face Tulsa at noon, followed by No. 6 Marshall vs. No. 11 Tulane at 2:30 p.m. The evening session will open with No. 5 Southern Miss facing host UCF at 5:30 p.m. That game will be followed by No. 8 East Carolina vs. No. 9 Rice at 8 p.m.

The top four seeds of the tournament receive a first-round bye. UTEP received the league's No. 1 seed after posting C-USA's first-ever perfect 16-0 league record. The Miners will face the winner of the ECU/Rice contest at 8 p.m., Friday. No. 2 seed SMU will face the winner of the Memphis/Tulsa game at noon on Friday, while No. 4 seed Houston will play the winner of the Southern Miss/UCF game at 5:30 p.m.

The semifinals of the 2008 championships will be broadcast on CSTV at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, Mar. 8th. The championship game airs on ESPN2, Sun., Mar. 9th at 3:30 p.m.