DALLAS – Rice women’s basketball became the first program in Conference USA history to win the league’s regular season championship outright in back-to-back years and will once again be the No. 1 seed at the 2020 Air Force Reserve C-USA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Sports Performance Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
 
Already having clinched a share of the regular season title on Thursday, Rice hosted Old Dominion Saturday afternoon in a battle for the tournament’s top two seeds. The Owls earned sole possession and avenged a loss to Old Dominion, its first in 30 conference games, in the process. Rice will have a first-round bye in the championship as the top seed.
 
2020 Air Force Reserve C-USA Women's Basketball Championship Bracket
Championship Central | C-USA Statistics | Overall Statistics
 
2020 Conference USA Women’s Basketball Championship Schedule | Ford Center at The Star, Frisco, Texas
 

Wednesday, March 11	11 a.m. CT/Court A	(8) Marshall vs. (9) Southern Miss	ESPN+
Wednesday, March 11	11:30 a.m. CT/Court B	(5) UAB vs. (12) Louisiana Tech	ESPN+
Wednesday, March 11	1:30 p.m. CT/Court A	(7) UTEP vs. (10) Florida Atlantic	ESPN+
Wednesday, March 11	2 p.m. CT/Court B	(6) Charlotte vs. (11) North Texas	ESPN+
Thursday, March 12	11 a.m. CT/Court A	(1) Rice vs. Marshall/Southern Miss	Stadium
Thursday, March 12	11:30 a.m. CT/Court B	(4) Middle Tennessee vs. UAB/Louisiana Tech	ESPN+
Thursday, March 12	1:30 p.m. CT/Court A	(2) Old Dominion vs. UTEP/Florida Atlantic	Stadium
Thursday, March 12	2 p.m. CT/Court B	(3) WKU vs. Charlotte/North Texas	ESPN+
Friday, March 13	6 p.m. CT	TBA vs. TBA	Stadium
Friday, March 13	8:30 p.m. CT	TBA vs. TBA	Stadium
Saturday, March 14	4:30 p.m. CT	TBA vs. TBA	CBS Sports Network

 
 
Wednesday’s four-game action begins at 11 a.m. CT on Court A when No. 8 seed Marshall (12-17, 7-11 C-USA) squares off with No. 9 Southern Miss (15-14, 7-11). The Golden Eagles hosted the Thundering Herd back on Feb. 6, with Marshall uprooting its host, 80-65, behind four double figure performances, including a career-high 21 for junior Taylor Pearson. Southern Miss senior Respect Leaphart will lead her unit to Frisco after earning her 1,000^th career point in Saturday’s regular season finale.
 
Shortly following the first tipoff of the championship, No. 5 UAB (20-10, 12-6) and No. 12 Louisiana Tech (14-15, 6-12) will meet at 11:30 a.m. CT on Court B. UAB claimed its 20^th win of the year in Saturday’s finale, marking the first time UAB has strung together three consecutive 20-win slates. Senior Rachael Childress also moved into the NCAA’s top five in career 3-pointers. The Lady Techsters are powered by junior Amber Dixon, the team’s leader in points (12.2), assists (2.9) and minutes (31.8).
 
No. 7 seed UTEP (15-14, 8-10) will face No. 10 Florida Atlantic (13-16, 7-11) at 1:30 p.m. CT on Court A in the teams’ second meeting of the 2019-20 season. The Owls traveled to El Paso on Jan. 4 and were contained by the Miners’ 52.3 percent shooting clip from the floor. Though Florida Atlantic lost 96-65 that day, the squad’s seven conference wins match its most successful season as a C-USA member. The Miners had C-USA’s best improvement from last year’s tournament, when they traveled to Frisco as the 11 seed.
 
No. 6 Charlotte (20-9, 11-7) and No. 11 North Texas (12-18, 6-12) will meet to finish first-round play at 2 p.m. CT on Court B. The 49ers polished off their third 20-win campaign under head coach Cara Consuegra, tying her for the most by a head coach in program history. Charlotte and North Texas met once in the regular season with the Niners stealing a 72-59 decision over the Mean Green in Charlotte. North Texas boasts one of the nation’s most efficient field goal shooters (63 percent) in senior Anisha George.
 
In Thursday's quarterfinal round, No. 1 Rice (21-8, 16-2) will take on the winner of Marshall and Southern Miss at 11 a.m. on Court A, and No. 4 Middle Tennessee (21-9, 13-5) will face either UAB or Louisiana Tech beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Court B. No. 2 seed Old Dominion (24-6, 14-4) will battle either UTEP or Florida Atlantic at 1:30 p.m. on Court A, while No. 3 WKU (22-7, 14-4) will close out Thursday night against the winner of the Charlotte-North Texas contest at 2 p.m. on Court B.
 
Coverage of the first round will be available through ESPN+, while the four quarterfinal games will be available on C-USA affiliates ESPN+ and Stadium.  The semifinal games will be shown on Stadium at 6 p.m. and 8:30 pm CT.  CBS Sports Network will broadcast the championship game at 4:30 p.m. CT Saturday.
 
For more information on the 2020 Air Force Reserve C-USA Basketball Championships presented by Baylor Scott & White Sports Performance Center at The Star in Frisco and to purchase tickets, visit ConferenceUSA.com.