Four teams received first-round byes in the Conference USA Tournament. For the eight teams that failed to finish in the top one-third of conference, the postseason begins today.
“Every team in Conference USA has its eyes on that championship game,” said SMU head coach Rhonda Rompola in a Conference USA press release. “To be there Sunday, that first-round bye is crucial, in terms of allowing the players another day of recovery from the grind of a long season.”
SMU, the University of Houston, Southern Mississippi and the University of Texas at El Paso all received first-round byes. SMU enters the tournament as the No.1 seed, followed by UTEP, Southern Miss and Houston.
Many credit winning the tournament to receiving a pass in the opening round. Out with an undisclosed foot injury for the past two weeks, junior forward Delisha Wills is one example of a player who can use the extra days off.
“Getting that bye in the first round is huge,” explained Wills. “At this time of year, everyone is tired and a little banged up. Any time you can get an extra day to rest that’s huge.”
The Mustangs come into the tournament with a youthful roster, starting no seniors, but rather three juniors, a sophomore and a freshman.
Brittany Gilliam, one of the team’s leading captains, joined by Jillian Samuels and Wills, described her role as one of the team’s three leaders.
“We had a great class of seniors last year, and they taught us a lot. More than what they said, it was how they just did their talking on the court – they just did their job,” said Gilliam. “Us, as captains – we talked about that a lot this year. We have a lot of young players on this team, and we known we had to try to do our jobs every day, to lead them by example, too.”
The Mustangs broke into the top spot in the tournament after overcoming a tough start in the regular season.
“This season has been a growing-up process, as we’ve gotten our young players some valuable experience,” said Rompola. “It’s a grind getting through February, trying to get some wins, and this team learned the importance of fighting through it – being gritty, being determined. You’ve got to fight through that – it’s the only way to get through the tough part of the schedule that all teams have to go through.”
The Mustangs will take on the winner of East Carolina and University of Alabama at Birmingham game on Friday at noon. Should SMU win, they will host the winner between Houston and either the University of Central Florida or Rice University.
SMU upset UTEP last season in the championship game of the conference tournament in Orlando, Fla. The winner of the conference tournament receives and automatice berth in the NCAA Tournament.
