C-USA Women's Basketball Notebook

Chandi Jones

With its 77-72 overtime win over Virginia Tech on March 23, Houston will next compete in the WNIT Championship game against Oregon on Wednesday, March 27 at 9 p.m. CST. It marks the first time in the league's seven-year existence that a C-USA team has advanced to the title game of the WNIT as the Cougars will attempt to win the first national team championship in league history. Check out all the latest news in this week's C-USA Women's basketball notebook.

C-USA'S 24-PLUS TEAMS
Conference USA is one of only two leagues with four schools who recorded 24-plus wins in a season. In the Big 12, Oklahoma (30-3), Kansas State (26-8), Baylor (27-6) and Iowa State (24-9) have all posted 20-plus win totals. For C-USA, Cincinnati (27-5), Houston (26-7), TCU (24-7) and Tulane (24-11) have also notched 24 or more wins this season.

C-USA IN THE WNIT
With its 77-72 overtime win over Virginia Tech on March 23, Houston advances to the WNIT Championship game against Oregon on Wednesday, March 27 at 8 p.m. It marks the first time in the league's seven-year existence that a C-USA team advanced to the "Final Four" of the WNIT. In 1993, Memphis advanced to the semifinal round before falling to Wisconsin, 92-73.

C-USA IN THE BIG DANCE
Cincinnati, Tulane and TCU all advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, marking the first time in league history that C-USA went 3-0 in the first round of the tournament.
On March 17, TCU fell to top-seeded Duke, 76-66, in the East Regional's second round. The Horned Frogs, for the second consecutive year, advanced to the second round, defeating Indiana, 55-45.
Cincinnati posted its first-ever NCAA Tournament win on March 16, defeating St. Peter's, 76-63 in overtime. The Bearcats suffered a 75-56 loss to No. 13 South Carolina in the second round, snapping a school record 14-game win streak.
Tulane upset No. 20 Colorado State. 73-69, on March 16, before falling to No. 5 Stanford, 75-56 in the second round of NCAA Tourney.

MARQUETTE WILL HOST 2002 NCAA MIDEAST REGIONAL
Marquette is hosting the 2002 NCAA Mideast Regional at the U.S. Cellular Arena, March 23-25. No. 1-seeded Connecticut (35-0) will face No. 7 Old Dominion at 6:30 p.m. CST on Monday, March 25 in the regional final.

All session reserved seats for adults are $35 and $20 for youths. All-session general admission seats are available as well and can be purchased for $22 by adults and $15 by youths. Those who purchase all-session tickets will be able to watch both semifinal games on Saturday and the championship game on Monday. Special ticket prices are available for groups. For more information, please call the Marquette Athletic Ticket Office at (414) 288-GOMU.

For detailed information on the regional, including directions to the U.S. Cellular Arena go to www.gomarquette.com.

AROUND C-USA...

CHARLOTTE (16-13, 7-7 C-USA)
After capturing a 58-46 win over Memphis in the first round of the C-USA Tournament, the 49ers fell to Houston, 68-65 on March 2. Charlotte ends the 2001-02 season with a 16-13 record, its best mark since the 1991-92. The Niners finished 20-8. PEACHES HARRIS led the 49ers with 18 points against Memphis and 16 points against Houston. In the conference, she currently stands 18th in scoring with 11.6 points per game.

CINCINNATI (27-5, 11-3 C-USA)
No. 19 Cincinnati suffered a 75-56 loss to No. 13 South Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 18. The Gamecocks snapped the Bearcats' school record 14-game win streak and ended the most successful season in Cincinnati's 30-year history. VALERIE KING and K.B. SHARP led Cincinnati with 13 points apiece, while C-USA Freshman of the Year DEBBIE MERRILL pulled down seven rebounds.

DE PAUL (15-14, 8-6 C-USA)
DePaul suffered an 87-76 loss to Michigan State in the first round of the WNIT on March 14. Freshman JENNI DANT led the Blue Demons with a career-high 24 points, while LENAE WILLIAMS scored 17 points. Williams closed out her four-year career. She ranked third in NCAA history with 330 career treys. She is also ranked fifth on C-USA all-time scoring list with 2,046 points.

EAST CAROLINA (6-21, 3-11 C-USA)
East Carolina ended the 2001-02 season with a 68-51 loss to Tulane on Feb. 24. The Pirates finished with a 6-21 record and 3-11 conference mark. COURTNEY WILLIS led East Carolina with 12.3 points per game, while KIM ENOCH averaged a team-high seven rebounds per game.

HOUSTON (26-7, 11-3 C-USA)
Houston came back from an 11-point deficit late in the second half and marched through overtime to hand Virginia Tech a thrilling 77-72 defeat in the semifinals of the 2002 Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) on March 23 in Blacksburg, Virginia. Houston advances to Wednesday night's WNIT championship game at Oregon (23-11), beginning at 9:00 p.m. CST. The finals game will mark the first time in the program's 27-year history that the Cougars have advanced to the finals in the post-season. The 1991-92 Houston team fell to Northern Illinois in the semifinals of that year's WNIT. The Cougars improve to 26-7 overall on the year, equaling the 1977-78 squad's school record total of 26-15. Houston's current 78.8 winning percentage remains the best ever in the program's 27-year history.

LOUISVILLE (17-13, 8-6 C-USA)
Louisville fell to Ball State, 95-84 on March 13 in the first round of the WNIT. The Cardinals finish the 2001-02 season with a 17-13 overall record. SARA NORD broke her own C-USA and school record with 235 assists. Last year, as a freshman she set the mark with 222.

MARQUETTE (14-14, 7-7 C-USA)
Marquette fell 43-40 to Saint Louis in the first round of the C-USA Tournament on March 1, to finish the season with a 14-14 overall record. RACHEL KLUG led the Golden Eagles in scoring this season with 13 points per game. She currently is ranked 27th in the nation with a 56.2 field goal percentage. KATIE ALSDURF earned All-Freshman honors, after ranking second on the team with 7.3 points per game.

MEMPHIS (11-17, 5-9 C-USA)
Memphis suffered a 58-46 loss to Charlotte on Friday in the opening round of the C-USA Tournament. SHANNON HAMP led the Tigers and finished seventh in the conference in scoring with 15.1 points per game. PRINCESS SWILLEY finished 12th in the league with 12.8 points per game this season.

SAINT LOUIS (14-15, 6-8 C-USA)
With a 43-40 win over the Golden Eagles, the Billikens posted their first-ever win against Marquette in 27 meetings to advance to the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament. Saint Louis then fell to TCU, 68-57 in the next round. ANGIE LEWIS led the Billikens in rebounding this season, posting 7.8 boards per game to rank seventh in the conference.

SOUTH FLORIDA (14-13, 4-10 C-USA)
South Florida ended the 2001-02 season with a win over Memphis, 80-61 on Feb. 24. South Florida enjoyed a 10-game improvement from a year ago, placing it fourth on C-USA all-time best turnaround list. DIONE SMITH ends her career as C-USA's all-time steals leader with 360.

SOUTHERN MISS (11-17, 4-10 C-USA)
SOUTHERN MISS dropped an 83-52 decision to Louisville in the first round of the C-USA Tournament. SONJA BROWN finished the season with a school record 101 blocks. She also ranks second on C-USA single-season list.

TCU (24-7, 12-2 C-USA)
No. 25 TCU fell to No. 3 Duke, 76-66 in the second round of the East Regional on March 17. KATI SAFARITOVA scored 24 points to lead the Horned Frogs, while EBONY SHAW added 12 points. The Horned Frogs finish the 2001-02 season with a 24-7 overall record, their second consecutive 20-plus win season. It also marked the second year in a row that TCU, which beat ninth-seeded Indiana on March 15, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Last year, the Frogs upset Penn State, 77-75 in the 2001 NCAA Tourney.

TULANE (24-11, 8-6 C-USA)
The Green Wave ended the 2001-02 season with a loss to No. 5 Stanford, 77-55 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. TEANA MCKIVER had 16 points, while SARAH GOREE scored 14. Goree finishes the season ranked eighth on C-USA career assist list with 416. Tulane, which is just one of 12 schools to have appeared in each of the last eight NCAA Tournaments, finished the season with a 24-11 record.

UAB (12-16, 4-10 C-USA)
UAB dropped a 62-35 decision to Tulane on March 1 at the C-USA Tournament. NATASHA THOMAS finished the season leading the conference with 20 double-double performances for the season. She also currently leads the league with 11.4 rebounds per game. The Blazers competed without All-American standout DEANNA JACKSON, who suffered a broken right fibula on Dec. 29. She missed the whole conference season, but finished her collegiate career ranked second in rebounding with 1,118 boards and third in C-USA career scoring with 2,144 points.

JACKSON OUT FOR THE SEASON
The C-USA Preseason Player of the Year, DEANNA JACKSON of UAB, missed the remainder of the regular season after sustaining a broken right fibula on Dec. 29. Jackson suffered the injury at the 7:14 mark of the first half against Ball State in Florida International's Fun and Sun Classic. Before her injury, Jackson was leading the nation and conference in scoring (26.2 points per game) and rebounding (12.3 per game).

WILLIAMS' HISTORIC TREY
LENAE WILLIAMS scored her 300th three-pointer in her career against East Carolina on Feb. 8. In her four seasons at DePaul, Williams posted 330 treys to rank third on NCAA all-time three-pointer list. Utah's Julie Krommenhoek is ranked first with 362 career three pointers.

TULANE'S MILESTONE
With its 35 games, Tulane has broken the conference's record for most games played in a season. Tulane finished with a 24-11 record during the 2001-02 season, surpassing the record by one game held by UAB in 1999-00. Here is a look at the single-season record for most games played.