Jan. 11, 2006

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis women's basketball team (2-11, 0-2 C-USA) hits the road this weekend for a pair of conference competitions, starting Friday in Dallas at SMU (6-9, 1-2 C-USA).

Memphis is looking for its first C-USA road win since a 51-47 victory at UAB, Jan. 21st of last year, while SMU will be playing its first-ever C-USA home game after opening the season with a 1-2 mark on the road, splitting a pair of contests at Tulane (78-66 win) and UTEP (80-69 loss) last weekend.

SMU is led by its strength up front with a pair of forwards who can shoot the three and with a 6-3 center in the middle to collapse the paint. Sophomore post Janelle Dodds averaging 21.9 points and 9.0 rebounds a game in conference play and 16.0 points and 8.2 rebounds overall, while forward Katie Gross adds 10.3 points and 5.6 rebounds a game from her spot down low, and leads the team with 14 blocks. Forward Sarah Davis also averages double-digits in league play, scoring 10.7 points a game through the first three C-USA contests. Davis is a forward with some range though, as she has hit 16 treys on the season, second on the team behind Gross' 28.

Senior guard Kendall Shead from DeSoto High School, a program that Lady Tiger fans will become more familiar with once the 2006 recruiting class comes to campus in the fall, leads the guards with 6.1 points a game and leads the team with 54 assists and 37 steals through the first 15 games.

Another SMU player from a high school Lady Tiger fans may recognize is freshman post Leah Starr, who played at Megan Gooch's alma mater, Georgetown High School in Texas. Starr is playing behind a deep front line, but has appeared in four regular season games for the Mustangs so far this year, averaging 2.0 points and 0.8 rebounds.

Following the SMU game, Memphis will make the flight to Tulsa, where Memphis will take on 11-3 Tulsa, the team with the league's best overall win-loss record. Tulsa is undefeated in five games at home so far this season and is 2-1 in league play after suffering a loss at UTEP last Friday.

The Golden Hurricane are led by junior forward Jillian Robbins, a two-time C-USA player of the week honoree. Robbins averages 18.3 points and 15.3 rebounds and leads the team with 39 blocks and 27 steals on the season. Similar to SMU, the dominant post player in the middle has meant more scoring opportunities for her frontcourt teammates, and fellow forwards Megan Moody (13.4 ppg) and Emily Jaskowiak (10.6 ppg) round out Tulsa's double-digit scorers on the season. Senior guard Kara Pongonis has already picked up 66 assists on the season feeding her big players down low, and when left open, knocks down over 40 percent of her shots from behind the arc, leading Tulsa with 32 treys on the season. A WNIT team from last season,Tulsa carries five seniors and three juniors on their roster, with just one freshman for first year head coach Charlene Thomas-Swinson.

Memphis is looking to snap a five-game losing streak that dates back to a Dec. 7th win over UT Martin in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.

Freshman Paris Leonard leads the Lady Tigers with 13.8 points a night, and is coming off her second career start against East Carolina on Sunday. Leonard leads the Lady Tigers with 23 treys on the season, and is the first freshman since Tamika Whitmore to average double-digit points on the season.

Senior guard Tamika Butler is second on the squad with a 13.0 ppg average, and sits at exactly 700 career points with 14 regular season games remaining. Second on the squad with 20 three-point field goals on 62 attempts, Butler leads the squad with 47 assists and is second with 26 steals through 13 games.

Junior Devin Necaise has stepped up her game and is almost tripling her scoring average from last season, with 12.6 ppg as a junior. One of just two Lady Tigers to start all 13 games this season, Necaise also has 20 treys on the season and leads the team with a 91.9 percent mark from the free-throw line. Necaise is actually on a bit of a streak from the free-throw line, having hit 20 straight free-throws heading into the SMU game.

Fellow junior Ashley Howard is the other consistent starter for the Lady Tigers, and at 5-8 is the team's leading rebounder with 8.0 rebounds a night. Howard has been more aggressive in looking to score as of late, and is now averaging 6.2 points a night. She also is backing up Butler at the point guard spot and as teams focus on double-teaming Butler or pressuring her as she brings the ball up the court, Howard has stepped up as a ball-handler and defensive presence and leads the team with 28 steals and is second with 40 assists.