With a 2-1 victory over Southern Mississippi on Sunday the Mustangs won the Conference-USA regular season championship and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

It was junior Brittainy Vice who got the Mustangs on the board first against the Golden Eagles. In the 22nd minute Vice scored her first goal of the season off an assist from Kimber Bailey and picked up her third point of the season.

Then 14 minutes later in the 36th minute of the game, Jena Lind added to the Mustangs’ lead with a pass from Caitlin Carter. It was Lind’s second goal of the season and Carter’s third assist on the year.

The score stood 2-0 until the 53rd minute of the game when the Golden Eagle’s Sarah Brennan put USM on the board. But that wasn’t enough as the Mustangs went on to win 2-1.

With the win the Mustangs improved to 15-3-1 overall on the season, and 8-1 in the conference. SMU will host the C-USA tournament at Westcott Field. The Mustangs are 7-1 at Westcott and 4-0 in conference at home.

Senior Olivia O’Rear has led the Mustangs all season on offense, and goalkeeper Ashley Gunter has led the defense. But helping Gunter has been three strong defenders who haven’t gotten much recognition.

Susanne Collins, Alyssa Pembroke and Ashley Watson have held strong throughout the season. The Mustangs have continually out shot their opponents 314 to 192. This has a lot to due with a strong offense but also a solid defense that doesn’t allow shots to be taken.

The Mustangs will face eighth seed Tulsa at Westcott at 12 p.m. on Wednesday.