March 16, 2014

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Tournament Notes

• This is the first Conference USA Championship title for newcomer Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders claimed both the regular season and tournament titles.
• The Blue Raiders have won their conference tournament title in eight of the past 11 years. This was their 14th appearance in a conference title game.
• This is the largest margin of victory (29) in a C-USA Championship game.
• Middle Tennessee's Ebony Rowe scored 23 points tonight to finish second in total points this tournament, with 77 points in three games (Jerica Coley of FIU scored 115 in four games).
• Rowe was this year's top rebounder, pulling down 38 total boards.
• Charter member Southern Miss made its second appearance in the C-USA Championship game. The Eagles lost to UCF, 65-54 in overtime, in 2009.
• With her 10 assists today, Southern Miss' Jamierra Faulkner, Conference USA's all-time leader in assists, ups her career total to 864.
• Faulkner also owns the Conference USA career steals mark with 358, including four tonight.
• This marked the fourth time in 19 years that the top two seeds squared off for the title. It is the third time the No. 1 seed has won the matchup ((1) Tulsa def. (2) Rice, 55-52, in 2006; (1) Houston def. (2) TCU, 86-75, in 2004).
• Tonight's attendance was 3,883.

Southern Miss Notes

• Southern Miss is now 26-6 overall, a plus-11 over last season.
• Tonight marks the ninth tournament championship game that Southern Miss had played in and now owns a 3-6 record.
• Southern Miss had its 13-game winning streak snapped.
• The 22 points was the second lowest point total in the first half this season.
• Southern Miss shot 52.6 percent in the first half, but dropped to 36.1 percent in the second half.
• Jamierra Faulkner recorded her 12th game with 20 or more points this season.
• Faulkner also recorded her 11th double-double of the season and 25th of her career.
• Faulkner had her 14th double-digit assist game.
• This was Faulkner's second all-tournament team honor.
• Tamara Jones recorded her 22nd double-figure scoring game.