Women jockey for tournament seed
By Drew Irwin
Skiff Staff

With only two weeks left in the women’s basketball team’s regular season, the Conference USA standings are starting to develop.

The Lady Frogs (12-12, 5-5 C-USA) sit in fifth place, tied with two other teams. And one of those teams, Southern Mississippi, is their opponent today.

Southern Mississippi (12-11, 5-5 C-USA) enters tonight’s game coming off a loss to previously unbeaten South Florida.

“You never know how a team is going to react to a loss like that,” head coach Jeff Mittie said.

Much like TCU, the Lady Eagles have a balanced scoring attack. Senior forward Dana Jones leads Southern Mississippi in scoring, recording 10.6 points a game. After Jones, six other players are averaging six or more points a game.

“I think the best thing we can do is take away what they like to do, and that’s penetrating the basket,” Mittie said.

The Lady Eagles have an inside presence to compete with sophomore center Sandora Irvin. Southern Mississippi’s senior center Sonja Brown has 71 blocks on the season, putting her second behind Irvin.

“I think we have to take it right to her,” Mittie said. “She’ll be a big challenge for Sandora.”

Brown also leads the team in rebounding, averaging 6.9 rebounds a game.

The Lady Frogs travel to Louisiana Sunday to face the Tulane Green Wave (16-7, 7-3 C-USA). Tulane is currently in fourth place, a crucial spot for C-USA. In the tournament, the top four teams get a bye.

“If you can get to that fourth spot, you have the same advantage as the team in first place,” Mittie said.

Tulane is coming off back-to-back wins over South Florida and Alabama-Birmingham but are only 3-3 after starting conference play with four straight wins.

“They’re an outstanding team,” Mittie said. “They’re going to be ready for us Sunday, trying to finish as strong as they can.”

The Lady Frogs will be looking to avenge two losses against Tulane last year. The Green Wave handed TCU its only home conference loss of the year and then knocked the Lady Frogs out of the C-USA tournament.

“It’s a revenge thing,” junior Amy Pack said.

Senior center Teana McKiver leads the Green Wave with 11.8 points a game. She also leads the team in blocks with 69.

Senior Forward Gwen Slaughter leads the team in rebounding, averaging just under 10 rebounds a game on the year. Tulane has two out of the top five conference leaders in blocked shots. But TCU’s Irvin has as many blocks in conference play (51) as McKiver and Slaughter combined.

McKiver and Slaughter’s inside presence has led Tulane’s defense, ranked No. 1 in the conference. The Green Wave is only giving up an average of 55.6 points in their 10 conference games.

“McKiver and Slaughter are two of the best athletes in the conference,” Mittie said. “We’re expecting a very physical game.”

Drew Irwin