Feb. 26, 2006

IRVING, Texas - After earning its first-ever conference championship in women's basketball on Friday, regular season champion Tulsa will be the No. 1 seed in this week's Conference USA Women's Basketball Championship, March 2-5 at SMU's Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas. The Golden Hurricane posted its 11th home win and 13th conference victory, breaking the school's single-season record, following a win over UTEP earlier today.

As the No. 1 seed, Tulsa will have a first round bye at the 2006 C-USA Women's Basketball Championship. Other teams receiving first round byes include No. 2 Rice, No. 3 SMU and No. 4 Southern Miss. Thursday's first round match-ups include: No. 8 East Carolina vs. No. 9 UAB at 1 p.m., No. 5 Marshall vs. No. 12 Memphis at 3:30 p.m., No. 7 Houston vs. No. 10 UTEP at 6 p.m., and No. 6 Tulane vs. No. 11 UCF at 8:30 p.m.

In Friday's quarterfinal round, No. 1 Tulsa will take on the winner of the ECU/UAB game at 1 p.m. and No. 4 Southern Miss will face the winner of the Marshall/Memphis match-up beginning at 3:30 p.m. No. 2 Rice, winners of seven in a row, will take on the winner of the Houston/UTEP game at 6 p.m., while No. 3 seed SMU will close out Friday night with the winner of the Tulane/UCF contest at 8:30 p.m.

Three of the four teams that received first round byes are competing in their first ever Conference USA championship, while Southern Miss receives the day-off advantage for the first time since 1996. The Golden Eagles boast one of the youngest squads in the country, including a junior as the lone upperclassman and welcome six rookies to the lineup.

All games will be played at Moody Coliseum and game times are Central. Live stats as well as live video streaming will be provided through the conference official website at www.conferenceusa.com. Saturday's semifinal games will be televised on CSTV. The C-USA Championship game on Sunday, March 5, will be broadcasted on ESPN2, beginning at 3 p.m. (CST).

For ticket information, please contact your local Conference USA school's ticket office.

C-USA Women's Basketball Championship
Moody Coliseum, Dallas, Texas
Thursday-Sunday, March 2-5

Thursday, March 2
Game One - (8) East Carolina vs. (9) UAB - 1:00 p.m.
Game Two - (5) Marshall vs. (12) Memphis - 3:30 p.m.
Game Three - (7) Houston vs. (10) UTEP - 6:00 p.m.
Game Four - (6) Tulane vs. (11) UCF - 8:30 p.m.

Friday, March 3
Game One - ECU/UAB winner vs. (1) Tulsa - 1:00 p.m.
Game Two - MAR/MEM winner vs. (4) Southern Miss - 3:30 p.m.
Game Three - HOU/UTEP winner vs. (2) Rice - 6:00 p.m.
Game Four - TLN/UCF winner vs. (3) SMU - 8:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 4
Game Nine - Semifinal No. 1 (CSTV) - 3:00 p.m.
Game 10 - Semifinal No. 2 (CSTV) - 5:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 5
Game 11 - Championship (ESPN2) 3:00 p.m.