Right now things are getting somewhat tight under the Conference USA collar. With six conference games remaining for the Golden Eagles they sit smack in the middle of a conference traffic jam heading into action this weekend.
The Golden Eagles get a conference break in terms of games this week, seeing that they only have one instead of the usual two and their last game was on Monday, but their opponent, the DePaul Blue Demons, own the best conference record.
The Golden Eagles sit in fourth place right now with a C-USA mark of 6-2, trailing only DePaul, Houston and Charlotte.
The Blue Demons come into Sunday's contest looking to extend their latest winning streak to two games after their previous one of 10 games was snapped by Charlotte last Saturday. In addition, the Blue Demons are also receiving some national love as they are ranked No. 15 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
A major reason for DePaul's success this season is due to sophomore Khara Smith, who leads the nation with 15 double-doubles and was named to the Wooden Award Midseason top 20, a list honoring 20 of the nation's top collegiate players. In addition, Smith leads the conference in rebounds and is second in points scored. This season, the Golden Eagles had success versus other quality post players including Tulane's Lakethia Hampton and East Carolina's Courtney Willis, but Smith might be one the best player the Golden Eagles will see in conference action.
According to assistant coach Michelle Nason, a trio of Golden Eagles will be called upon to guard Smith.
"Sarah Shouse, Christina Quaye and Jasmine McCullough, they are all going to be coming in to guard her," she said. "The way she (Smith) pounds on you there is no way one person could guard her. We are going to bring the double team and drag players and get some help on each side to double her."
This season the rivalry game is for more than just civic pride since both teams are in serious contention for the C-USA regular season title.
"Irregardless of where either team sits in the standings at the time, the game is always very competitive and it is a tough rivalry, making it a very electric atmosphere to be a part of," Nason said.
In order for the Golden Eagles to come out of the DePaul game with a win, they must trim their turnovers down from their last outing against Charlotte, where they turned the ball over 26 times. In that contest Charlotte went after the team using a full-court press, according to Nason, but she feels DePaul will change things up against them.
"DePaul will approach us the same way Charlotte did, but in the half court," Nason said. "They are physical, they overplay with a heavy-denial style, and they will sag in on feeds to the post and double team you there.
"DePaul has not shown to use the press this year but after our game against Charlotte," Doug (Bruno, head coach of DePaul) is a veteran coach, he has probably seen the tape and will probably pick us up man-to-man in the full court."
Sunday's contest also means a classic struggle of a superior offense taking on a superior defense. DePaul comes into the contest with the No. 1 scoring offense in C-USA while the Golden Eagles enter the game giving up the third lowest number of points.