The first round of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center Frisco took place on Wednesday with a four-game slate. (4E) FIU defeated (5W) Southern Miss, 85-75 in the lid-lifter and Old Dominion downed (3W) North Texas, 71-66 in the second game of the early session. (4W) Louisiana Tech edged (5E) Marshall, 50-48 and (3E) Florida Atlantic moved past UAB, 72-66.
 
Schedule/Watch Links/Results/Box Scores/Team Information
 
Championship Central

First Round Game 1
(4E) FIU 85, (5W) Southern Miss 75
FRISCO, Texas – Jiselle Thomas established new career highs with 34 points and 15 rebounds to lead FIU past Southern Miss, 85-75 in a first round game of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center. 
 
Thomas began the march to her career day with a red-hot first quarter, scoring 10 points and 7 rebounds in the opening 10 minutes, guiding the Panthers to a 19-12 lead.  After a quiet second quarter, she poured in 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the second half.  Today’s career-best showing for Thomas continued her hot streak down the stretch of the season.  Over her last nine games the junior is averaging 23.1 points per game.
 
FIU (13-11) entered the game as C-USA’s top 3-point shooting team and continued that trend, hitting 10 treys.  That extends the Panthers single-season record for 3-pointers made to 209.  Fujika Nimmo led the way with a career-best four treys.
 
For Southern Miss (7-13), Daishai Almond was 10-of-17 from the field and set a new career-high with 22 points.  She added six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
 
Almond led four Golden Eagles in double figures, as she was joined by Kahia Warmsley (14), Kelsey Jones (11) and Rose Warren (10).
 
FIU advances to play West Division Champion Rice at 11 a.m. CT on Thursday in quarterfinal action.  Those two teams did not meet this season.
 
First Round Game 2
Old Dominion 71, (3W) North Texas 66
FRISCO, Texas – In college basketball you want to be playing your best in March. For Old Dominion that is exactly what it is doing.  The Monarchs won for the fourth straight time and the sixth time out of seven with a 71-66 victory over North Texas in the first round of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center. 
 
The four March victories have come by a total of 15 points, but unlike the previous three, ODU (12-10) did not need a late rally to meet the win column.  The Monarchs led nearly the entire second half of this contest, taking a 35-33 advantage early in the third quarter that it would not relinquish.
 
Ajah Wayne turned in a brilliant performance to lead Old Dominion, matching her season highs with 26 points and 16 rebounds.  Included was an 11-for-15 shooting performance from the field, eight rebounds on the offensive glass and she also recorded four steals.
 
Victoria Morris added 17 points for the Monarchs, while Amari Young pulled down double-digit rebounds for the second straight day, finishing with 10 boards.
 
Emma Villas-Gomis came off the bench to pour in 16 second half points and finish with a career-high 24 to lead North Texas (13-7).  Quincy Noble added 20 points, as the duo combined for 44 of the Mean Green’s 66 points.  
 
Old Dominion advances to play (2E) Charlotte at 11:30 a.m. CT on Thursday in quarterfinals action.  The 49ers won both matchups during the regular season, with each game going to overtime.
 
First Round Game 3
(4W) Louisiana Tech 50, (5E) Marshall 48
FRISCO, Texas – Louisiana Tech scored the game’s final five points and held off a potential game-tying shot at the buzzer to survive and advance past Marshall, 50-48 in a first round game of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center. 
 
The fourth quarter saw seven lead changes with neither team holding an advantage of more than three points.  Trailing 48-45 with 38 seconds to play, Anna Lara Roberson hit a field goal to cut it to one and Keiunna Walker capitalized on a turnover with a layup on a fast break that gave the Lady Techsters the lead.  LA Tech would add a free throw with two seconds remaining before Marshall would have one last chance.  But, Taylor Pearson’s running jumper fell short as the buzzer sounded and the Lady Techsters secured victory.
 
Roberson was the top performer for LA Tech (14-9), registering her fifth double-double of the season.  She established new career highs in points (22) and rebounds (14) on this day.
 
Walker added 16 points for the Lady Techsters, her 20th double-figure scoring game this season, and Amber Dixon chipped in with 12. 
 
That trio combined to score all 50 of LA Tech’s points as the Lady Techsters won their first round game at the C-USA Championship by one possession for the second straight season.
 
Marshall (8-11) was led in scoring by Savannah Wheeler, who finished with 17 points.  Kennedi Colclough picked up her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Louisiana Tech advances to play East Division Champion Middle Tennessee at 2 p.m. CT on Thursday in quarterfinal action.  Their regular season series was cancelled in February due to weather.
 
First Round Game 4
(3E) Florida Atlantic 72, UAB 66
FRISCO, Texas – Iggy Allen scored 14 of her game-high 30 points in the fourth quarter to lead Florida Atlantic to a 72-66 win over UAB in a first round game of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center. 
 
Allen reached the 30-point mark for the fourth time this season, including three of the last five games.  She also pulled down 16 rebounds for her 11^th double-double this season. 
 
Astou Gaye joined Allen in double-figure scoring, posting a season-high 17 points.  She made three of the team’s four 3-pointers.
 
The victory was Florida Atlantic’s first in C-USA Championship action.  It marked the program’s first postseason victory since 2012 when it won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. FAU (11-10) has now won eight of its last 10 games.
 
UAB (9-13) was led in scoring by Margaret Whitley with 23 points.  She finished with six 3-pointers, one shy of her career high. 
 
Zaykia Weathersby, who had 13 points and 20 rebounds in the win over UTSA on Tuesday, closed out this game with 20 points and nine boards.
 
Florida Atlantic advances to play UTEP at 2:30 p.m. CT on Thursday in quarterfinal action.  The two teams split a pair of games in El Paso, Feb. 21-22.

 
 
Preliminary Round Game 1
(6E) Old Dominion 83, (7E) WKU 77
FRISCO, Texas – For the second straight season, regulation was not enough time to decide the opening game of the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center.  Old Dominion needed an extra five minutes to defeat WKU, 83-77. 
 
Old Dominion made it three wins this season over WKU.  And just like in the previous two meetings, the Monarchs trailed at halftime before coming back to win.  In this one, the ODU rally came late in the game.  The Monarchs erased a five-point deficit in the final 22.9 seconds of regulation and then in overtime hit their final five field goal attempts and final five free throw attempts to post the six-point triumph.
 
Mariah Adams scored seven of her team-high 20 points in the extra session to lead ODU (11-10), which has won five of its last six.  Victoria Morris hit 5 three-pointers and scored 19 points, while Amari Young pulled down 11 rebounds (six offensive) to top the Monarchs on the glass.
 
Raneem Elgedawy put up a huge effort for WKU (7-16), scoring a season-high 31 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.  Ally Collett came off the bench to match her career high with four three-pointers and finish with 14 points.
 
Old Dominion advances to play (3W) North Texas at 11:30 a.m. CT on Wednesday in first round action.  Those two teams did not meet this season, as their January series was postponed.
 
Preliminary Round Game 2
(6W) UAB 80, (7W) UTSA 66
FRISCO, Texas – UAB opened the game with a 15-4 run, led 27-9 after the first quarter and proceeded to an 80-66 victory over UTSA in preliminary round action at the 2021 Air Force Reserve C-USA Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Baylor Scott & White Medical Center. 
 
Zaykia Weathersby was a dominant force for the Blazers, scoring 13 points and pulling down 20 rebounds for her 14^th double-double of the season.  The 20 rebounds were just one board of the C-USA Championship record of 21, originally set by UAB’s Kim Brown in 1998 and matched by Old Dominion’s Oje Ijemba in 2016.
 
Maddie Walsh set a new career high for UAB with 14 points, hitting a trio of three-pointers, while LaMiracle Sims also established a new career-best with 12 points.  Sam Mitchell rounded out the four Blazers in double-figure scoring with 13 points.
 
UAB entered the game third in C-USA in free throw shooting and showed why in this contest, going 20-of-23 (.870) from the line.
 
For UTSA (2-18), Yuliyana Valcheva posted her second-highest scoring game of the season, finishing with a game-high 22 points.  Karrington Donald notched her third 20-point showing this season, finishing with an even 20 for the Roadrunners.
 
(6W) UAB advances to play (3E) Florida Atlantic at 2:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday in first round action.  Those two teams did not meet during the regular season.