The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor women’s basketball team will make its fifth straight appearance in the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament when the Cru faces LeTourneau University in a First Round Game on Thursday in Brownwood. The UMHB women are in the ASC Tournament for the 13th time overall and the Cru has an 8-12 all-time record in the event.
The Cru will take on the Yellowjackets in a 12:00 PM start in the opening game of the tournament. UMHB is 17-8 overall and went 10-6 in ASC play this season to claim the #2 seed from the West Division. LeTourneau is 13-12 overall and also went 10-6 in ASC play to advance as the East Division #3 seed. The Yellowjackets are making their fourth appearance in the ASC Tournament and are 1-3 all-time in the event. The Cru topped LeTourneau 89-70 in the regular season meeting between the two teams back on January 7th. Jonelle Smith had 19 points and went 5-8 from three-point range for UMHB. Alicia Blackwell had 17 points and six rebounds off the bench as the Cru shot 51 percent from the field as a team in that victory. The winner of the UMHB-LeTourneau game will advance to Friday’s Semifinals at 5:00 PM to face the winner of the U.T. Dallas-Sul Ross State contest. The other side of the bracket features Concordia Texas taking on U.T. Tyler and tournament host Howard Payne University facing off with Louisiana College.
The ASC Women’s Basketball Championship Game will be played at 6:00 PM on Saturday. The ASC Tournament Champion receives the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championships. The Cru has played in the championship game three times, but has never won an ASC Championship.
Smith leads UMHB in scoring at 12.3 points per game and she is shooting 35 percent from three-point range. Kendra Wynn is right behind Smith in scoring at 11.9 points per contest and she leads the Cru in rebounding (8.5 rpg), steals (62) and blocked shots (18). Point guard Meghan Turner leads the ASC with 108 assists on the season and UMHB has seven players averaging five or more points per game for the conference’s second-highest scoring offense.
