ABILENE, Texas – McMurry University women's basketball will open American Southwest Conference play at home this coming Thursday (Nov. 29, 5:30 p.m.) versus Belhaven University at Kimbrell Arena. The War Hawks will also host Louisiana College on Saturday (Dec. 1, 1 p.m.), with both games followed by the McM men versus those same teams.
McM is coming of a pair of tough road losses last weekend in Spokane, Washington to Whitman College – which received votes in this week's top-25 NCAA III poll - and Whitworth University. The War Hawks (0-5, 0-0) will be in search of their first win of the year, after their challenging pre-conference games which also included losses to NCAA III nationally-ranked East Texas Baptist, Division I Houston Baptist and Texas Lutheran University.
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SCOUTING BELHAVEN: The Blazers (1-2, 0-0) will be coming in to face McMurry off of a 66-57 over Spalding University last Saturday. AaLiyaha Thornton led BU with 18 points and three rebounds, as ten different Blazers scored in the contest. Overall, Thornton tops the team at 12.7 points per game, to go along with 5.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists per contest. Peyton Papenbrug (11.0 p.p.g.) and Lauren Brooks (10.3 p.p.g.) also average in double-figure scoring. Brooks leads BU in rebounds at 7.3 per game. BU ranks #3 in the ASC for rebound margin (+9.3 r.p.g.).
LAST TIME OUT VERSUS THE BLAZERS: Last season, the War Hawks took a 62-44 win in Jackson, Mississippi.
Sham Hunter and
Sarah Doherty each tallied 12 points for McMurry, with
London Weilert adding 10 points off the bench.
Skyler Reyna had six rebound and nine points.
SCOUTING LOUISIANA COLLEGE: The Wildcats (3-1, 0-0) will have a game versus Hardin-Simmons on Thursday, prior to Saturday's match-up with the War Hawks. Under first-year head coach Matt LaBato, the Wildcats have just one loss entering the week – versus Piedmont College – and have registered wins over Centenary, Wesleyan and Birmingham-Southern. LC pasted a lopsided 102-38 score on Wesleyan in the Roanoke Tournament. A balanced attack is led by RyDeja McQuarn (10.3 p.p.g.), Kourtney McGhee (10.0 p.p.g.) and Jayla Landrum (10.0 p.p.g.). Landrum and Kristen Breaux, at 5.8 rebounds per game each, lead the regulars with no less than eight players at 3.0 r.p.g. or better. As a team in the latest ASC stats, LC is No. 1 in both scoring offense (77.0 p.p.g.) and assists (18.0 a.p.g.), while also ranking No. 2 in scoring margin (+18.0 p.p.g.) and No. 3 in scoring defense (59.0 p.p.g.).
LAST TIME OUT VERSUS THE WILDCATS: Last season in Alexandria, Louisiana, McMurry scored a 61-55 win over the Wildcats in the first game on their new home venue: the Rapides Parish Coliseum.
Skyler Reyna had 17 points to lead the War Hawks, also grabbing eight caroms.
Isabel Carrion had a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, to go along with four assists and three steals.
FOR OPENERS: The War Hawks are 1-2 in ASC openers under head coach
Brittany Densman-Roes. McM defeated Louisiana College last season and dropped bouts to East Texas Baptist the previous two years.
EYE ON THE SKY: McM junior
Skyler Reyna needs 28 more rebounds to reach 500 boards for her McMurry career.
ADD REYNA: Reyna notched her 700th career point in the loss at Houston Baptist. She currently sits at 728 total career points.
SISTER ACT: McM freshman sisters Savannah and
Autumn Johnson have been a great addition to the War Hawks roster. The duo is averaging a combined 14.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, all while shooting .558 (29-52) from the floor.
AMONG THE ASC LEADERS: Individually,
Skyler Reyna ranks No. 3 in ASC for total rebounds (8.4 r.p.g.) and No. 2 in offensive rebounds (3.6 o.r.p.g.); freshman
Savannah Johnson is No. 2 in field goal percentage by shooting .636 percent per game.
NEXT WEEK FOR McM: The War Hawks will hit the road for three games next week at: the University of the Ozarks on Monday, December 3 (5:30 p.m.); the University of Texas-Tyler on Wednesday, Dec. 5 (5:30 p.m.), and; Southwestern University on Saturday, Dec. 8 (2 p.m.).
