The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Women's Basketball Seeded Ninth In Conference USA Tournament
3/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 1, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB women's basketball team will be the No. 9 seed in the 2009 Conference USA Tournament, which is set to begin on Thursday in New Orleans, La. The Blazers will take on No. 8 East Carolina in the opening round on Thursday at 12 p.m. CT at Fogelman Arena.
UAB concluded its regular season with a 10-19 overall record and a 5-11 league mark. This will be the first time in three years that the Blazers will have to play on the first day of the tournament, having earned the No. 3 seed in 2008 and the No. 2 seed in 2007 to receive a bye in the first round.
"At this time of the year, seeding doesn't matter that much," said UAB head coach Audra Smith. "It is all about who wants it the most.
"We will spend this week preparing to play hard and compete on every possession. If we do that, we will have as good of a chance as any other team in the tournament."
SMU will be the No. 1 seed in the tournament, winning its first outright C-USA regular season title with a league record of 12-4 and a 19-10 overall record.
UTEP, Southern Miss and Houston all finished the regular season with an 11-5 mark in conference play. The tiebreaker put UTEP at the No. 2 seed, Southern Miss third and Houston fourth. SMU, UTEP, Southern Miss and Houston will all receive a first-round bye after finishing in the top four.
The league tournament is scheduled for March 5-9 at Folgeman Arena on the campus of Tulane University. Thursday will feature four first-round games, including UAB vs. East Carolina at noon. Friday will be the quarterfinals, followed by the semi-finals on Saturday and the championship game on Sunday.
Tickets for the 2009 Conference USA Women's Basketball Championship are available at the UAB ticket office at (205) 975-UAB1 or at the Tulane ticket office by calling (504) 861-WAVE.
