This past weekend, Conference USA had the most teams advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in league history. Only the SEC (6), Big 10 (5) and the Big 12 (5) currently have more schools in the tournament. In Monday night's action, TCU takes on No. 3 Georgia in the West Regional at 7 p.m. (EST), while DePaul faces top-seeded Tennessee in Tallahassee, Fla. at 9 p.m. Houston will look to extend its 13-game winning streak when it takes on No. 11 and host UC Santa Barbara at 11 p.m. Marquette battles No. 1 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Tuesday's contest.


THE 20-WIN CLUB
For the first time in C-USA history, the league has six teams with 20-plus win records. Houston (28-3), TCU (25-6), Louisville (20-10), DePaul (23-6), Memphis (21-10) and Marquette (22-8) have all reached the 20-plus win plateau this season. As of March 22, Conference USA, the Big 12 and the Big East are the only leagues in the nation with six or more schools that have posted 20-plus win seasons.


THE BIG DANCE
Houston, DePaul, Marquette and TCU are competing in the 2004 NCAA Tournament. For the first time in league history, all four teams advanced to the second round.

Regular season and C-USA Tournament champion Houston defeated 14th-seeded UW-Green Bay, 62-47, on Saturday in the East Region in Santa Barbara, Calif. Advancing to the second round for the first time in school history, the Cougars will next face 11th-seeded UC Santa Barbara on Monday.

For the third time in program history, DePaul has advance to the second round after claiming an 83-46 victory over eighth-seeded George Washington on Saturday. The Blue Demons will take on No. 1 seed Tennessee in the second round on Monday. Earlier in the season, DePaul nearly claimed an upset over the Volunteers, falling 96-89 in overtime on Dec. 17.

Sixth-seeded TCU earned its fourth straight trip to the second round after downing 11th-seeded Temple, 70-57, on Saturday in the West Region on Saturday, in Philadelphia, Pa. The Horned Frogs earned their highest seed ever in the NCAA Tournament and face No. 3 Georgia on Monday.

Ninth-seeded Marquette advances to the NCAA second round for only the second time in school history and will face No. 1 Duke on Tuesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Golden Eagles posted a 67-64 upset over eight-seeded Old Dominion on Sunday in first round. With a 22-9 overall record, the Golden Eagles have now tied the most victories in school history with 22.

DID YOU KNOW?
This past weekend, Conference USA had the most teams advance to the second round in league history. Only the SEC (6), Big 10 (5) and the Big 12 (5) currently have more schools in the tournament.

2004 WNIT
Five Conference USA schools, more than any other league, took part in the 2004 Women's National Invitation Tournament. Charlotte's run ended on Sunday with an 85-83 overtime loss to Western Michigan. Memphis suffered a 104-87 setback at Western Kentucky. Cincinnati, Louisville and USF lost in their respective first-round matchups.


HOUSTON WINS 2004 C-USA TOURNAMENT
In front of a tournament record crowd of 4,387, CHANDI JONES posted 36 points to lead the Houston Cougars to their first Conference USA Tournament title after defeating second-seeded TCU, 86-75, on March 7 at the Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

The Cougars become only the second school in league history to win outright the regular season crown and tournament title in one season. Memphis also claimed the conference's regular season and tourney titles during the 1997-98 season. .

Jones earned Tournament MVP honors after averaging 27 points per game during the tournament, ranking second in the C-USA Tourney record book. Also named to the All-Tournament team was Lyttle, Cincinnati's VALERIE KING and TCU's NATASHA LACY and SANDORA IRVIN.

DID YOU KNOW?
Conference USA has produced an all-time high of 17 postseason basketball teams (6 NCAA Men, 4 NCAA Women, 2 NIT, 5 WNIT). Only the Big East with 19 (6 NCAA Men, 8 NCAA women, 4 NIT and 1 WNIT) and the Big 12 with 18 (4 NCAA Men, 7 NCAA Women, 5 NIT and 2 WNIT) have produced more postseason basketball teams this March.

HIGHEST RANKING EVER
With a No. 9 showing in the latest Associated Press poll, Houston has earned the highest ranking in C-USA history. The Cougars surpassed the former ranking of 10th, which they earned in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll.

COUGARS' WINNING WAYS
With a 28-3 overall mark, Houston has set the C-USA record for the most overall victories in a season. Cincinnati posted a 27-5 record in 2002, while Tulane also went 27-5 during the 1999-00 and 1996-97 seasons.

RECORD YEAR FOR C-USA
- For the first time in C-USA history, three league schools were ranked in the polls. On Jan. 11, TCU was No. 17, while DePaul was ranked 18 and Houston placed No. 25 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. The following week, all three schools also earned top 25 rankings in the Associated Press poll. A month later, the Cougars earned the highest ranking in C-USA history with a No. 9 spot.

- Houston's CHANDI JONES became the first player in C-USA annals to be named Player of the Year for three consecutive years.

- With a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Cougars earned the highest seed in league history. In the 1997 NCAA Championship, Tulane was seeded fourth.

- Five league schools earned WNIT bids, tying the league's record for most teams in the tourney. Conference USA also had five teams earn berths to the 2001 WNIT (DePaul, Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis and UAB).

RECORD BREAKING ATTENDANCE
The 2004 C-USA Tournament will go down in the record books as the most attended tourney in C-USA women's basketball history. The total attendance for the 11 games was 22,031, breaking the former mark of 10,966 set at the 2002 C-USA Tournament at the DePaul Athletic Center.

The championship game also drew a record crowd for the tournament. Attendance for the game was 4,387, surpassing the old mark of 3,069 established at the 1999 C-USA Championship game (Cincinnati vs. Tulane).

NCAA TIDBITS
-UAB is the only conference school that advanced to the Sweet 16 in league history. The Blazers defeated Oregon, 80-79, Mississippi State ,78-72, before falling to RutGers, 60-45, in the 2000 Tournament.

- TCU is the only league school that has advanced to four consecutive second rounds. The Horned Frogs are 4-3 in its four appearances in the NCAA.

BALANCED POWER
Houston becomes the ninth different school to win at least a share of the regular season championship in the first nine seasons of Conference USA.

C-USA TURNAROUND
A total of eight schools have improved their overall win total from a year ago. In fact, Houston had the biggest turnaround, compiling a 15-13 record during the 2002-03 season and then claiming a 24-3 record this year.

WIN STREAKS
Houston is now only one win away from tying the longest win streak in C-USA history. Cincinnati and Tulane hold the league's record with 14 consecutive victories.

C-USA LEADING SCORER
Houston's CHANDI JONES continues to lead the league and is ranked fourth nationally in scoring (22.7 ppg). This season, she has tallied four 30-plus point performances, including a career-high tying 39 points against Tulane on Feb. 8. DePaul's KHARA SMITH closely follows in second with 20.8 points per game and leads the league with 19 double-double performances.


COACHING MILESTONES
Houston's head coach JOE CURL captured his 100th all-time victory at the Cougar helm when Houston defeated UW-Green Bay on March 20. Currently, Curl is 100-80 in six seasons at UH. With a 74-70 victory over DePaul in the C-USA Tournament on March 5, Marquette's TERRI MITCHELL claimed her 150th victory at the Golden Eagle helm. Mitchell has compiled a 150-49 record in her eight seasons at MU.

FOR THE RECORD BOOK
Several tourney records were broken during the 2004 C-USA Tournament. Charlotte's SAKELLIE DANIELS set a tournament record for free throws made (14) and free throws attempted (18) in the 49ers' 74-61 victory over East Carolina.

In the quarterfinal rounds, Cincinnati's VALERIE KING went 7-of-12 from the three-point arc against Houston, breaking the old tournament record of six treys.

TCU's SANDORA IRVIN established a new tournament mark with eight blocks against Charlotte last Friday. She broke her previous record of six set against Charlotte on March 8, 2003. As a team, the Horned Frogs finished with 11 total blocks also breaking the team tournament record of 7.

HOME SWEET HOME
DePaul, Louisville and Marquette finished the regular season with perfect home records (7-0) in C-USA play. The Blue Demons did not lose a conference home contest (7-0), while posting a 13-1 overall record at the DePaul Athletic Center. The Cardinals were also undefeated in league play and compiled a 12-1 mark in Freedom Hall. The Golden Eagles moved into the Al McGuire Center on Jan. 4 and have since posted a nine-game winning streak, including a 7-0 conference record, in their new facility.

AROUND C-USA...

CHARLOTTE (17-14, 8-6 C-USA)
Charlotte wrapped up its season on Sunday, rallying from a 15-point deficit before falling in overtime, 85-83, at Western Michigan in the second round of the WNIT. It was the second trip to the postseason for the Niners. PEACHES HARRIS ended her career with 1,079 points, good for 11th on the school's career list. LESLIE COOK's six treys against the Broncos, she raised her season total to 71, destroying the previous school record of 58 set by Harris last season.

CINCINNATI (15-16, 5-9 C-USA)
VALERIE KING scored 21 of her 25 points after halftime, but it was not enough to keep it from being her final game as a Bearcat as Cincinnati fell to Western Kentucky, 80-78, in overtime of the first round of the WNIT. King, who concludes her career second in UC history and fourth in Conference USA in scoring with 2,156 points, scored 11-straight points for UC (15-16) in the second half to keep the Bearcats in the game and posted five of her team's nine points in overtime. UC's only other senior, BRITTANI YOUNG, scored the go-ahead basket at the end of regulation and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds. Young and King conclude their careers tied for first in games played with 126.

DE PAUL (23-6, 10-4 C-USA)
CHARLENE SMITH scored 24 points and KHARA SMITH added 16 on Saturday, and DePaul found its shooting touch in the second half to beat George Washington, 83-46, in the opening round of the Midwest Regional. The Blue Demons (23-6) shot 66 percent in the second half, repeatedly driving past defenders to outscore the Colonials 44-28 in the paint. JENNI DANT added 16 points and (Khara) Smith had 12 rebounds for DePaul, which will meet Tennessee in Monday's second-round game. DePaul won 18 of its first 19 games to start the season, the only defeat a 96-89 overtime loss at home to Tennessee on December 17.

EAST CAROLINA (14-14, 5-9 C-USA)
East Carolina suffered a 74-61 loss to Charlotte in the first round of the C-USA Tournament to conclude the 2003-04 season with a 14-14 record. The Pirates were paced in scoring by ALISHA BISHOP with 16 and KEISHA ANTHONY with 15. A total of 37 of ECU's 61 points came from their bench. The Pirates were hampered by an ankle injury to leading scorer COURTNEY WILLIS in the first half. The first team All-C-USA selection was limited to five minutes and was held to three points.

HOUSTON (28-3, 13-1 C-USA)
CHANDI JONES scored 28 points and ninth-ranked Houston defeated UW-Green Bay, 62-47, on Saturday to win a first-round NCAA tournament game for the first time. The third-seeded Cougars (28-3) advanced in just their third-ever NCAA tourney appearance and first in 12 years. They've won 22 of their last 23 games, including a school-record 13 in a row. SANCHO LYTTLE added seven points and 10 rebounds after playing just seven minutes in the first half when she picked up two quick fouls. NICOLE OLIVER scored 11 points. Houston takes on UC Santa Barbara on Monday in the second round of the tournament.

LOUISVILLE (20-10, 11-3 C-USA)
The Cardinals' season ended with a 63-61 loss to Western Michigan in the opening round of the WNIT on Thursday. Freshman JAZZ COVINGTON tied a career-high with 17 rebounds and added 12 points. Junior ANGEL BRADLEY led the team with 19 points and after going scoreless in the first half, senior SARA NORD added 12 points. Nord closes out her collegiate career as the all-time league leader in assists with 852 in 118 games played. She also holds C-USA's single-season record, dishing out 235 during the 2001-02 season. The Cardinals conclude the 2003-04 year with a 20-10 record under first-year head coach TOM COLLEN. It marks U of L's first 20-plus win season since the 1998-99 season.

MARQUETTE (22-9, 9-5 C-USA)
CHRISTINA QUAYE scored 24 points and hit a go-ahead layup with 5.8 seconds left Sunday to lift Marquette past Old Dominion 67-64 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Quaye, a freshman, had 11 in the final six minutes for the ninth-seeded Golden Eagles, who are making their first NCAA appearance in four years. It also marks only the second time in school history that Marquette has advanced to the second round. MU defeated Clemson in the first round of the 1997 NCAA Tournament. The Golden Eagles advanced to play Duke in Tuesday's second round of the Mideast Regional.


MEMPHIS (21-10, 9-5 C-USA)
Memphis suffered a 104-87 loss to Western Kentucky in the second round of the WNIT on Sunday. Despite the loss, senior PRINCESS SWILLEY managed to enter the 1,000 point club after scoring just two points in today's game. Swilley became the second Lady Tiger in two straight years to enter the club, as Shannon Hamp reached the 1,000-point plateau last season. VICTORIA CRAWFORD led Memphis' efforts with a career-high 38 points off an 11-of-22 effort from the field, and a 16-of-17 mark from the charity stripe. Crawford hit 14 straight free throws before recording her only miss. Crawford also hauled in 12 rebounds for her second career double-double.

SAINT LOUIS (8-19, 2-12 C-USA)
The Billikens end their season with an 8-19 overall record and 2-12 conference mark. Senior ANGIE LEWIS was named to the All-Conference third team. She finished the 2003-04 season with 485 points, the second-highest single-season total in school history, and averaged 18 points and 7.0 rebounds this year. She also broke the record for field goals made in a season with 194. Lewis scored 32 points against East Carolina, the second-highest single-game total in school history and was the first player at SLU to score at least 30 points in a game three times in one season. Lewis tallied 1,300 points in her career, the sixth-best total in school history, and her 659 rebounds ranks sixth on the rebounding chart.

USF (14-15, 7-7 C-USA)
USF, playing in its first postseason game since the 1978-79 season, fell to the Richmond Spider, 63-55, on Thursday in the opening round of the WNIT. With the loss, the Bulls finish the 2003-04 season at 14-15 overall. ANEDRA GILMORE scored 19 points and JESSICA DICKSON contributed 13. Dickson broke the C-USA freshmen scoring record with 540 points this season.

SOUTHERN MISS (14-13, 2-12 C-USA)
Southern Miss ended its season with a 65-51 loss at Tulane on Friday. The Golden Eagles finished with a 14-13 record and 2-12 in league play, losing its last eight games. Freshmen DEONDRA CARTER and MICHELLE POINDEXTER were Southern Miss' top scorers. Carter led the squad with 12.9 points per game, while Poindexter finished with 9.8 ppg. Carter was named to the All-Freshmen team, becoming the first Eagle to receive the honor since the 1996-97 season. She played in all 26 games and started 23 contests. She averaged 13.1 points and 4.5 rebounds against C-USA teams.

TCU (25-6, 11-3 C-USA)
TCU reached the NCAA Championship Second Round for the fourth year in a row on Saturday by downing the West Region's No. 11 seed Temple, 70-57. With the win, TCU moved its record to 25-6, tying the school's single-season win record with the 2000-01 squad that went 25-8. led all scorers with her fifth consecutive 20-point performance. She recorded 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for her 14th double-double in a row. SANDORA IRVIN also became the all-time leading rebounder in TCU men's or women's basketball history, surpassing Reggie Smith and his 966 caroms set over 1988-1992. The women's record was 778 by Janice Dziuk (1986-1990) before Irvin broke it against Cincinnati earlier this year.

TULANE (10-18, 3-11 C-USA)
Tulane suffered a 61-44 loss to Marquette in the first round of the C-USA Tournament to conclude its season with a 10-18 overall mark. The Green Wave were paced in scoring by D'AUNDRA HENRY with 13 points and LAKETHIA HAMPTON with 12. Hampton also tied for the team high with six rebounds. The Green Wave closed out the 2003-04 season at the C-USA Tourney, ending a nine-year run of trips to the NCAA Championship.

UAB (9-19, 3-11 C-USA)
UAB concluded the 2003-04 season with a first round loss to Memphis, 64-54, at the C-USA Tournament. Senior NATASHA THOMAS added another milestone to her outstanding career, as she tallied the 1,000th rebound of her collegiate run. Thomas, who scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds Thursday, joined UAB greats, Wanda Hightower and Deanna Jackson as only the third Blazer to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her career. JEANNIE MILLING has been relieved of her position as head coach. In 17 years at UAB, she compiled a record of 265-230. Milling also guided UAB to postseason play on five occasions, including a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.
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