Nov. 23, 2009

IRVING, Texas - Conference USA women's basketball programs have already faced some pretty tough competition this season and will continue to battle against some of the nation's elite during the holiday break.

C-USA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK & STATISTICS

Houston and UAB will spend time in Florida this week as the two teams are set to face Miami and Florida, respectively, on Tuesday. Tulane will play host to No. 7 LSU inside Fogelman Arena in New Orleans on Wednesday. In addition, 10 of the league's 12 teams will be competing in a Thanksgiving Holiday Invitational starting on Friday, Nov. 27.

Tulsa is holding its opponents to a league-best 48.0 points per game and .270 field goal percentage defense. On the other hand, East Carolina tops the charts in scoring (74.0 ppg), field goal percentage (.481) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (.176). ECU looks to extend its four-game winning-streak Friday when the Pirates host Bethune-Cookman in the Lady Pirate Invitational.

The trio of Southern Miss' Pauline Love, Emma Cannon of UCF and Houston's Courtney Taylor have picked up where they left off a year ago. The trio are averaging double figures in scoring and rebounds. Love currently leads the league in scoring with 19.0 PPG and averages 10.0 RPG. Taylor tops the charts in boards per game with 14.7 and accounts for 14.7 PPG. Cannon is responsible for 10.5 RPG and 13.0 PPG for the Knights.

UPCOMING GAMES (all times central)
Mon., November 23
William Carey at Southern Miss 7 p.m.

Tue., November 24
Houston at Miami 11 a.m.
UAB at Florida 4:30 p.m.
UALR at Rice 5 p.m.
Marshall at Ohio 6 p.m.
Eastern Illinois at SMU 7 p.m.
Toledo at UTEP 7:05 p.m.

Wed., November 25
#7/15 LSU at Tulane 7 p.m.

Fri., November 27
Pitt Tournament (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Marshall vs. Miami (OH) 3 p.m.
SMU TOURNAMENT
Hampton at SMU 5 p.m.
LADY PIRATE INVITATIONAL
Bethune-Cookman at East Carolina 4 p.m.
Coors Rocky Mountain Invitational (Fort Collins, Colo.)
Houston vs. Delaware 6 p.m.
Wyndham Miami Thanksgiving Tournament (Miami, Fla.)
Rice vs. UMass 4 p.m.
LADY EAGLE THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
Jackson State at Southern Miss 5 p.m.
FGCU Thanksgiving Classic (Ft. Myers, Fla.)
Tulsa at Florida Gulf Coast 6 p.m.
UAB THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
Norfolk State at UAB 6 p.m.
UTEP THANKSGIVING TOURNAMENT
Weber State at UTEP 5:30 p.m.
Husky Classic (Seattle, Wash.)
Memphis vs. Sacramento State 2 p.m.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
COURTNEY TAYLOR, HOUSTON
6-0, Jr., F (Crockett, Texas)
Taylor averaged 19 points, 12.7 rebounds and two blocks, as well as recording a pair of double-doubles last week. She also shot 54.8 percent from the field and 50.0 from 3-point line. The Crockett, Texas native scored a game-high 25 points and had 10 rebounds in a win at UT-Arlington. She followed up that performance with a career-best 19 rebounds, one shy of the school record, and netted 14 points in the team's season home opener win against Oregon State. Taylor scored a game-high 18 points in the final game of the week at No. 7 LSU. This is Taylor's first Player of the Week honor this season and third of her career.

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
NICOLE DICKSON, MEMPHIS
6-0, Fr., F (Greeneville, Tenn.)
Dickson averaged 14 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals in a pair of Memphis wins. The freshman came up big against UT Martin on Sunday, when the Skyhawks' answer to Brittany Carter's slashing game was to pack the paint for 40 minutes in a 2-3 zone to keep the athletic guard out of there. Dickson found gaps and helped stretch the defense by going a perfect 4-for-4 from the 3-point line in the win over UTM. UTM came out and cut the Memphis lead to single digits at 47-38 when Dickson knocked down a 3 to push Memphis back in front by double-digits. The Skyhawks again cut the lead to 10 with 6:18 to play when Dickson knocked down another 3 to put Memphis back in front and to help them close out a 68-51 win. This is Dickson's first Freshman of the Week honor.

2009-10 C-USA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
N16 Pauline Love, Southern Miss
N23 Courtney Taylor, Houston

FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
N16 Jala Harris, UAB
N23 Nicole Dickson, Memphis

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