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Jan. 5 Women's Basketball Notebook & Statistics
Two televised games on tap for the week, including an ESPN2 broadcast on Sunday.

	Tulane senior guard Ashley Langford became the owner of the second most assists distributed in C-USA history against UTEP on Friday.

Jan. 5, 2009

IRVING, Texas - Conference USA women's basketball enters its second week of league play and will showcase a handful of its teams in two televised games this week. Up first will be Marshall at SMU on Time Warner Dallas on Thursday, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m., followed by a national broadcast on ESPN2 between UTEP and Houston in El Pasco at 1 p.m.

C-USA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK_JAN 5

SHOOTING STARS
^ Southern Miss Kendra Reed cracked the C-USA All-time scoring charts against UCF Saturday. The senior guard owns 1,413 career points for 22nd best in league history. She's the first Lady Eagle to rank among the C-USA elite scorers. That figure also ranks her eighth on the program's all-time scoring list.

^ Tulane senior guard Ashley Langford became the owner of the second most assists distributed in C-USA history. The 5-7 guard now owns 624 career assists, passing Cincinnati's K.B. Sharp (1999-03). Her 10.2 RPG this season would rank third in Tulane single-season history.

^ UAB sophomore guard Amanda Peterson averaged 15.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game last week. She also shot 45.5 percent from beyond the arc, sinking 10-of-22 treys, and 90.9 percent of her free throws (10-of-11) over three games. In the Blazers' C-USA opening win at Memphis, Peterson recorded a career-high 23 points, her second 20-point effort of the season.

^ UCF sophomore forward Emma Cannon averaged 19.5 points, seven rebounds and two rebounds per game during the Holiday break. She also shot impressively from both the field and the free-throw line, shooting 69.6 (16-23) and 87.5 (7-8) percent respectively. She has reached double figures in 12-of-14 games this season.

^ Southern Miss junior forward Pauline Love posted back-to-back double-doubles with 28 points and 10 rebounds against Nicholls State, including scoring 22 first-half points in which she scored 16-of-19 points over a five-minute span. She tallied 22 points and 13 rebounds at UCF Saturday. She averaged 25.0 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 65.7 percent from the field. Love owns 10 double-doubles on the season and 29 for her career.

^ SMU freshman Christine Elliott averaged a team-high 15.3 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game to help lead the Mustangs to victories over Arkansas-Pine Bluff, at TCU and over Tulsa. Elliott had her breakout performance against UAPB, with a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.

C-USA COURT REPORT
^ Southern Miss' 100-point game against Nicholls is the first time in 11 years that a USM team has gone over the century mark, the last time was Dec. 13, 1997 against Fairleigh Dickinson (107-63). The 60-point margin is tied for the second largest margin of victory for a Southern Miss team. It also ties for the ninth largest in C-USA history and most for a C-USA team this season. The Lady Eagles also had a school record 26 steals, third most in league history, against Nicholls State.

^ Tulane has held all but two opponents (#18 Arizona State; #23 Georgia Tech) to 66 points or less at the end of regulation.

^ UCF closed out one of the most challenging non-conference schedules in the country at Florida State last week. The Knights followed that up with a 65-59 victory over Southern Miss for their first win in a C-USA opener and first win all-time in 13 meetings with the Golden Eagles.

^ SMU has won four straight and six of its last seven games.

^ Houston owns a league best home court winning streak at six. The Cougars return home against UAB on Jan. 16, marking a 19 day break from playing in Hofheinz Pavilion.

^ Rice has not played a home game since Dec. 17 as the Owls host George Washington tonight at 7 p.m. inside the newly upgraded Tudor Fieldhouse.

2008-09 C-USA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Brittany Gilliam, SMU
5-11, Jr., F, Tyler, Texas
Gilliam averaged 16.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in SMU's three wins during Dec. 22 and Jan. 4. At No. 26 TCU she flirted with a triple-double, as she scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out eight assists in the Mustangs' 79-75 upset victory over their metroplex rival. This was Gilliam's third double-double of the season. She opened C-USA action Saturday with 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists in a 67-56 win against C-USA rival Tulsa. Gilliam also scored 20 points, on .467 (7-of-15) shooting from the floor, at home against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. This is Gilliam's first career Player of the Week honor.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Brett Benzio, Tulane
6-3, Fr., F, Jensen Beach, Fla.
Benzio averaged 11.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game for a trio of contest between Dec. 22 and Jan. 4. She recorded back-to-back double-doubles with 11 points and 13 rebounds against USF, and had a career-high 19 points with a career-high tying 15 rebounds in Tulane's win against UTEP to open C-USA play Friday. The power forward also grabbed eight rebounds in 28 minutes against No. 23 Georgia Tech Sunday. This is Benzio's first career Rookie of the Week honor.

2008-09 C-USA WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
N17 Courtney Taylor, Houston
N24 Tynikki Crook, Marshall
D1 Paris Leonard, Memphis
D8 LaCoya Terry, East Carolina
D15 Courtney Taylor, Houston
D22 Chelsie Wiley, UCF
J5 Brittany Gilliam, SMU

ROOKIES OF THE WEEK
N17 Roxana Button, Houston
N24 Tamika Dukes, UAB
D1 Ramses Lonlack, Memphis
D8 D'Frantz Smart, Rice
D15 Roxana Button, Houston & Candace Rucker, Southern Miss
D22 Candace Rucker, Southern Miss
J5 Brett Benzio, Tulane