Around the Rim Report . . .

Cross-Division Play Continues: The American Southwest Conference teams continue tune-ups for mid-January conference action with a week of non-conference games, including Thursday (Jan. 9) and Saturday (Jan. 11) ASC cross-division games played at West Division sites. . . . The ASC East Division opens conference play January 16 while the ASC West Division schedule resumes on January 13.

Jones Coaches Win No. 350: University of the Ozarks head coach Jack Jones won his 350th game at Ozarks with the 65-53 win over Howard Payne on January 4. Jones, in his 24th season as head coach at UO, has compiled a 350-259 record. He currently ranks No. 16 in wins among all active NCAA-III women's basketball coaches.

Top 5 Cowgirls: Hardin-Simmons remains fifth in both the D3Hoops.com and WBCA national polls (Dec. 31). HSU totals 499 points and a first-place vote in the December 31 weekly D3Hoops.com poll. The Cowgirls (9-0, 1-0 ASC) are the lone undefeated women's team in the conference.

The Numbers: Complete ASC conference statistics packages are available on this Web site. The NCAA Division III national statistics rankings will be posted beginning the week of January 7 at www.ncaa.org under the statistics tab.

Slam Dunks . . .

Austin College: Austin College snapped a six-game losing streak with a 68-52 home win over Sul Ross State January 4. Senior Rania Batrice led the Lady 'Roos with 15 points. . . . Batrice is AC's leading scorer with a 12.6 average.

Concordia-Austin: The Lady Tornados look to end a five-game losing streak when they host UT Dallas on Thursday (Jan. 9). . . . Ashley Edwards tied her season-high with 25 points in the 108-99 overtime loss to College of St. Scholastica in the opening round of CUA's Mr. Ghatti's Holiday Classic (Dec. 30). Edwards finished the tournament with 36 points and was 10-of-11 from the line in the two games.

East Texas Baptist: Senior point guard Sandy Gabriel became the Lady Tigers' career steals leader with three swipes against Hardin-Simmons on January 2. Gabriel totals 184 steals. . . . Post player Tanasha Ellis scored a career-high 30 points against NCAA-II Southern Arkansas (Dec. 30). The senior finished the three-game week averaging 23 points while shooting 54 percent from the floor (23-of-43) and 79 percent at the line (23-of-29).

Hardin-Simmons: The Cowgirls remain ranked among the nation's Top 5 squads in the weekly D3Hoops.com poll. HSU, who has received a first-place vote in each of the first four polls, listed at No. 5 in the December 31 ranking. . . . Hardin-Simmons has found the road a welcome place, winning its four road games by an average of 30.5 points. . . . Senior center Laura Ricci has emerged as one of the Cowgirls' top defensive players, pulling down 10 rebounds and scoring 17 points at LeTourneau (Jan. 4).

Howard Payne: Forward Nichole Salzman began the 2003 portion of the season with a back-to-back double-double. Salzman grabbed 13 rebounds and scored 12 points in the 68-52 win at Austin College (Jan. 2), then closed the weekend with 10 rebounds and 11 points in the 65-53 loss at Ozarks (Jan. 4). . . . Kristy Lyons tops HPU scorers with a 14.1-point average while dishing an average 4.1 assists a game. . . . Second-leading scorer Rachel Offineer averaged 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in last week's three games.

LeTourneau: Shots taken behind lines were good for sophomore guard Amy Morris in last weekend's two games. Morris finished 10-of-11 from the free throw line (.909) and 5-of-9 behind the three-point mark (.555) in games against McMurry (Jan. 2) and Hardin-Simmons (Jan. 4). . . . . The LadyJackets combined to shoot 44 percent from the field, 60 percent from three-point and 82 percent at the line in the 89-68 loss to No. 5-ranked Hardin-Simmons.

Louisiana College: Senior guard Lisa Oakman put together her best shooting performance of the season, scoring 19 points while connecting on 62 percent (8-of-13) of her field goal attempts in the 74-60 home win vs. Concordia-Austin (Jan. 4). . . . Point guard Kim Reed is averaging just over 5 assists a game, the best average for the Lady Wildcats in three seasons.

Mary Hardin-Baylor: The Lady Crusaders returned from a two-week break with an 80-69 win at Trinity (Dec. 28), avenging a season-opening 69-67 loss to the Tigers. Julie Robertson led UMHB with 13 points and a career-high 11 assists for her first double-double of the 2002-03 season. . . . Forward Lisa Martinez recorded a pair of double-doubles and tallied three double-digit scoring outbursts to help UMHB to a 2-1 mark last week. Martiniez opened with 10 points and 11 rebounds vs. Trinity, then began 2003 with a career-high 23 points at Louisiana College (Jan. 2). She finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the 65-63 loss at Mississippi College (Jan. 4).

McMurry: Luck ran out on McMurry when the calendar turned 2003 as the Lady Indians were unable to repeat a familiar pattern of comeback wins. McMurry has trailed at halftime in four of its six wins this season, staging dramatic second-half rallies to earn the "W." But that magic failed the past weekend when MU trailed LeTourneau (13 pts.) and East Texas Baptist (10 pts.) at the break, and finished on the short side of the scoreboard. . . . Post player Sonya West notched her third consecutive and sixth overall game with 20 or more points with 22 points at LeTourneau (Jan. 2) and 21 points at East Texas Baptist (Jan. 4). West, who scored a season-high 35 points against UT Permian Basin (Dec. 20), is averaging 22.3 points over the first 10 games.

Mississippi College: The Lady Choctaws boast the second-best record in the ASC at 8-1 (.889) following a pair of close home wins to begin 2003. Mississippi College slipped past Concordia-Austin 67-66 (Jan. 2) and Mary Hardin-Baylor 65-63 (Jan. 4). . . . First-year forward Lacey Palomarez opened the new year with 35 points, including a perfect 11-of-11 night at the line, vs. Concordia-Austin. Palomarez scored 23 consecutive points--the last six of the first half and the first 17 of the second half--to push MC past the Tornados.

Ozarks: Forward Jenna Corbell set the Lady Eagles' single-game rebounding record with 25 boards in the 70-65 double overtime loss to Hendrix College on December 30. Corbell bettered the old mark, set in 1989, by two rebounds. The junior totaled 39 rebounds over the last three games, including a strong performance with 30 defensive boards. Corbell is Ozarks' top scorer (20.3 ppg) and rebounder (11.3 rpg).

Schreiner: The Mountaineers play at home for the first time in over a month when they host Ozarks on Thursday (Jan. 9) and Austin College on Saturday (Jan. 11). Schreiner's last home appearance was December 7. . . . SU is looking to end its season-opening nine-game losing streak with the home weekend. . . . Melanie Ledesma recorded a double-double in the 59-54 loss at UT Dallas (Jan. 4), scoring 10 points while grabbing 11 rebounds.

Sul Ross State: Junior guard/forward April Ramirez drilled 17-of-28 field goals (.607) and 9-of-11 free throws (.818) to lead the Lady Lobos in a 1-1 week. Ramirez scored 28 points and snagged 21 rebounds with 7 assists and 7 steals in the 63-61 win at UT Permian Basin (Dec. 30), then came back with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals in the 69-56 loss at Austin College (Jan. 4).

UT Dallas: The Comets put an end to a six-game losing streak with a 59-54 win over visiting Schreiner on Saturday (Jan. 4). Freshman guard Kia Jones led UTD with 22 points and 5 rebounds while senior Jessica Conrad netted 14 points. . . . UTD looks to extend its home win streak when it hosts Cazenovia College (N.Y.) on Monday (Jan. 6).

Texas Lutheran: The Bulldogs opened the new year by snapping a seven-game losing streak with a 59-54 win at UT Dallas (Jan. 3). Point guard Katrina Rathburn led TLU with all-around play, scoring 10 points and totaling 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals vs. the Comets. . . . Courtney Ard finished December scoring 17 points against No. 8 Wisconsin-Eau Claire (Dec. 31). Ard, who averaged 17.0 points over the four December contests, has topped TLU scoring for five straight games heading into Tuesday's (Jan. 7) non-conference game at Southwestern.