The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
C-USA Update: Final Two Weeks Of Regular Season
2/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Each week leading into the 2015 Conference USA Championship in Birmingham, Steve Irvine of UABSports.com will provide a preview of what is going on in Conference USA. Tickets for the tournament can be purchased at UABSports.com.
CONFERENCE USA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS
1. Western Kentucky (12-2, 23-4)
2. Middle Tennessee (12-3, 18-7)
3. Southern Miss (11-4, 18-8)
4. Louisiana Tech (9-6, 14-12)
5. UTSA (8-6, 13-13)
Old Dominion (8-6, 15-10)
7. UAB (8-7, 14-12)
8. Charlotte (7-7, 11-15)
Marshall (7-7, 15-10)
10. Florida Atlantic (6-8, 12-13)
11. UTEP (5-9, 10-13)
12. North Texas (4-10, 5-20)
13. Rice (3-11, 8-17)
14. FIU (0-14, 3-22)
THIS WEEK’S GAMES
Thursday
Rice at Old Dominion, 11 a.m.
Marshall at FIU, 5 p.m.
North Texas at Charlotte, 6 p.m.
WKU at FAU, 6 p.m.
Southern Miss at UTSA, 7 p.m.
Louisiana Tech at UTEP, 8 p.m.
Saturday
North Texas at Old Dominion, Noon
Louisiana Tech at UTSA, 2 p.m.
Marshall at FAU, 4 p.m.
UAB at Middle Tennessee, 5 p.m.
WKU at FIU, 5 p.m.
Rice at Charlotte, 6 p.m.
Sunday
Southern Miss at UTEP, 3 p.m.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Southern Miss at UTSA: The Golden Eagles can secure a top three spot with the road win. UTSA, on the other hand, is trying to climb into the top four in the league standings in time to get a first round bye in the Conference USA Championships. A win for the Roadrunners would be huge.
C-USA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
BreAnna Dawkins, North Texas: Dawkins averaged 22.5 points and 7.5 rebounds to earn C-USA Player of the Week honors. She helped the Mean Green to a pair of league wins, marking its first two-game win streak since November 2013. Prior to the senior's performance this week, no North Texas player had reached the 20-point plateau this season. She 24 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Florida Atlantic.
Kiandre’a Pound, FIU: Pound posted two double-digit scoring efforts on the week to earn C-USA Freshman of the Week honors. She averaged 20 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.5 blocks.
UAB SPOTLIGHT
The mystery has long since gone about where UAB prefers to look for their points. Yes, it’s a team game but senior Janae Smith is the unquestioned first option. Smith either led or tied for team high honors in points in 18 of the Blazers’ first 26 games, including 12 of 15 times in C-USA play. She enters the final week averaging a team-best 17.9 points and 7.7 rebounds. She also has a team-best 36 blocked shots and 38 steals.
C-USA SPOTLIGHT
Chastity Gooch not only helped Western Kentucky stay on top of the C-USA standings last week with a huge win over Middle Tennessee but also was added to the "Wade Watch" list by the Wade Trophy Committee. The award is given to the top NCAA Women’s Basketball Player for accomplishments on and off the floor. Gooch, a 6-foot senior, is averaging 16.9 points per game in 2014-15 while pulling down 7.2 rebounds per contest. She has also blocked 34 shots and grabbed 58 steals. She is currently shooting nearly 50.0 percent from the field and 41.8 percent from behind the three-point arc, making her one of the more versatile posts in the nation. Gooch currently ranks among the top 10 in career scoring, rebounds, blocks and steals at WKU. The watch list will be trimmed to 12 in mid-March.
C-USA CHAMPIONSHIPS TICKET INFORMATION
Fans can purchase tickets to this year’s Conference USA Championship, which will be hosted by UAB and the City of Birmingham, by calling 205-975-8221 or by visiting UABSports.com.
