Nov. 4, 2008

Watch | Gametracker | C-USA Tournament Central

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The No. 7-seeded UAB women's soccer team will begin its quest for its third Conference USA Tournament championship on Wednesday when it plays the No. 2 Memphis Tigers in the first round of the league tournament. The event is hosted by Rice University in Houston, Texas on Nov. 5-9.

UAB ended its regular season schedule with an overall record of 7-10-2, including a 5-4-2 mark in conference play. Memphis brings a 12-4-2 overall record into the tournament, which includes an 8-2-1 mark in league games that earned the Tigers a share of the 2008 C-USA regular season championship.

Freshman forward Tiffini Turpin leads UAB in scoring this season with seven goals, including six in C-USA games. Freshman midfielder Carolyn Polcari has found the back of the net six times for the Blazers, all during league play.

Turpin and Polcari lead C-USA in goals (6) in conference games only. Polcari also added four assists against league opponents to pace C-USA in points with 16.

Memphis is led by Lizzy Simonin with eight goals and 19 points on the year. Vendula Strnadova has contributed seven goals for the Tigers. Laura Laufenberg has a team-high seven assists.

UAB and Memphis met once during the `08 regular season that resulted in a 2-1 win for the Tigers last Thursday in both teams' regular-season finale. The Blazers hold an 8-6-1 advantage in the all-time series with Memphis.

The last time that UAB and Memphis met in the C-USA Tournament was during the semifinals of the 2006 tournament. The match ended in a 0-0 tie and the Blazers advanced to the championship game on penalty kicks. UAB ended up winning the league tournament title that season after defeating Colorado College, 3-2.

UAB and Memphis will kick-off at 5:30 p.m. CT at the Rice Soccer Stadium on Wednesday. The game can be followed live on Gametracker by logging onto www.uabsports.com.

The winner of the UAB/Memphis game will advance to the semifinal round on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and play the winner of the No. 3 UCF vs. No. 6 Rice match.