Around the Rim Report . . .

Full Slate on Thanksgiving Week Plate: All 15 American Southwest Conference women's basketball teams will be in action during Thanksgiving week with the first round of cross divisional games scheduled on Saturday (Nov. 30). All but two ASC teams began their season's last weekend (Nov. 22-24) with Sul Ross State (Monday vs. UT Permian Basin) and Concordia-Austin (Tuesday vs. Wiley College) tipping-off the year early this week.

Early ASC Start: Texas Lutheran won the season's first ASC game, posting a 70-28 road victory over Schreiner last Friday (Nov. 22) on the first night of the season to sit atop the West Division standings. The next ASC game won't be played until December 7 when McMurry travels across town to play at Hardin-Simmons.

Preseason Picks: ASC head coaches and media don't often share the same thoughts, but the two groups did mirror each other in top team and player picks in the respective preseason polls. East Texas Baptist was picked to win the East Division and Hardin-Simmons the West Division titles by each voting group. ETBU 5-11 forward Tanasha Ellis (Crockett, Texas) was selected East Preseason Player of the Year with Kendra Anderson (Colorado City, Texas), 5-9 forward for Hardin-Simmons, chosen West Preseason Player of the Year in the two polls.
Coaches and Media Preseason Polls

Cowgirls in Preseason Spotlight: Last year's NCAA Sectional semifinal appearance by Hardin-Simmons carried some weight in the 2002-03 preseason polls. The Cowgirls, 26-2 a year ago, are ranked No. 2 in the Women's DIII News preseason Top 25 poll, No. 5 in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA preseason poll and No. 6 in the D3Hoops.com preseason Top 25. HSU senior Kendra Anderson was selected as the Women's DIII News preseason Player of the Year after averaging 16 points and 10.5 rebounds last season and taking home both ASC West Player of the Year and WBCA All-America awards.

Slam Dunks . . .

Austin College: Lady Kangaroo head coach Debra Hunter recorded her 200th career win when AC upended Marian College (Wis.) 64-46 in the season-opener (Nov. 22). . . . F Kayla Smiley came away from the Bob Mason Classic (Nov. 22-23) carrying 14.0 point and 9.5 rebound averages. Smiley, who shot 57.9 percent for the weekend, scored 16 points and was a perfect 6-for-6 at the line against LaVerne (Nov. 23).

Concordia-Austin: The Tornadoes open their season Tuesday (Nov. 26) hosting Wiley College, then face a couple of ASC cross-division foes in road games at LeTourneau on Saturday (Nov. 30) and at East Texas Baptist on Monday (Dec. 2).

East Texas Baptist: Freshman F Tiffany Jefferson recorded 17 rebounds against Wiley College (Nov. 23), finishing her first two Lady Tiger games averaging 13.0 rebounds and shooting 77 percent from the floor (10-of-13).

Hardin-Simmons: Hardin-Simmons collected a pair of regional wins in first-year head coach Shanna Briggs' debut weekend, upending Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference foes Trinity and Southwestern. . . . Kendra Anderson opened the season with 21 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals vs. Trinity. . . . Senior KraTaura Buckner scored a career-high 22 points vs. Southwestern (Nov. 23). . . . The Cowgirls capped last year's Sweet 16 season with the No. 17 position on the Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll compiled by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. HSU posted a collective 3.393 grade-point average for the 2001-02 year. . . . HSU claimed the NCAA-III 2001-02 women's basketball attendance average title averaging 816 per game.

Howard Payne: The Lady Yellow Jackets opened the season by winning the Rowan (N.J.) Invitational. HPU got wins against Mary Washington and host Rowan in the tournament. . . . Rachel Offineer averaged a double-double--10.0 points and 10.0 rebounds--in the first weekend's play. . . . Kami Collins came off the bench to average 10.0 points and 8.5 rebounds.

LeTourneau: LeTourneau split its season-opening weekend at the Central Baptist Classic, losing to Bacone the first night before notching a high-scoring 97-91 win over Mid-American Bible (Nov. 23). . . . Senior F Sara Vestfals drilled 28 points and totaled nine rebounds, five steals and three assists in the win vs. Mid-American Bible.

Louisiana College: The Lady Wildcats opened with an impressive 69-47 win over Millsaps College last Friday (Nov. 22).

McMurry: G Melissa Forth tallied 55 points over the two season-opening games, including 30 points in the 91-76 win vs. Southwestern Assemblies of God University (Nov. 22). The sophomore finished the week shooting .648 from the field and .950 at the line. . . . Freshman Sonya West, last season's Texas Class AAA Player of the Year from state champ Llano High School, scored 41 points over her first two Lady Indian games, including 26 points vs. UT Permian Basin (Nov. 23). . . . Corissa Thompson collected 16 rebounds and blocked 11 shots.

Mississippi College: Freshman F Lacey Palomarez had no trouble in her first collegiate start, scoring 23 points, seven rebounds and six steals against Judson College (Nov. 23). Agressive play on both ends of the floor helped Palomarez draw several fouls and take advantage of free throw opportunities, making nine-of-10 free throws. . . . First-year Lady Choctaw G Lacey Kovach scored 16 points, including three three-pointers, and made four steals in 14 minutes vs. Judson. . . . MC finished No. 30 in 2001-02 NCAA-III women's basketball attendance average with 417 per game.

Mary Hardin-Baylor: Freshman F-C Lisa Martinez scored a team-high 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds in her first collegiate game. She finished the two-game weekend with 37 points and 18 rebounds. . . . F Julie Wiese made the most of her Crusader debut weekend with 15 points and 19 rebounds in the Hardin-Simmons Classic (Nov. 22-23).

Ozarks: Junior F Jenna Corbell was the got-to scorer in the Ozarks' season-opening 92-86 win vs. College of the Ozarks (Nov. 22). Corbell scored 34 points--including 19 in the first half--behind hot 54 percent shooting and totaled 15 rebounds and seven assists.

Schreiner: The Lady Mountaineers look to come back from their season and ASC West-opening loss to Texas Lutheran when they resume play Saturday (Nov. 30) at Louisiana College.

Sul Ross State: The Lady Lobos open the 2002-03 season Monday night hosting UT Permian Basin, then head east to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for games against Texas Wesleyan (Nov. 30) and UT Dallas (Dec. 1).

UT Dallas: The Comets have three home games scheduled over the week, including cross-division match-ups with Howard Payne (Nov. 30) and Sul Ross State (Dec. 1). . . . Jessica Conrad opened the season with 25 points, including four three-pointers, in the 71-52 win vs. LaVerne (Nov. 22), then came back with a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) in the 76-75 overtime win against Marian (Nov. 23) in the Austin College Bob Mason Classic.

Texas Lutheran: The Bulldogs took and early-season lead in the ASC West with a 70-28 divisional win at Schreiner (Nov. 22). . . . F Courtney Ard scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the conference-opening win vs. Schreiner, then came back to finish with nine points at Division II Texas A&M-Kingsville the next night (Nov. 23).