ABILENE, Texas -  The McxMurry women's basketball team will get in a trio of games this week, before taking a 12-day hiatus for finals.  The War Hawks (1-6, 1-1 ASC) will play the University of the Ozarks on Monday (Dec. 3/5:30 p.m.), and UT-Tyler on Wednesday (Dec. 5/5:30 p.m.), before traveling to Southwestern University on Saturday (Dec. 8/2 p.m.).
 
McM is coming off of last week's split of American Southwest Conference contests. The War Hawks topped Belhaven (77-74), but lost to Louisiana College (67-73), with both games at Kimbrell Arena.
 
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SCOUTING OZARKS: The Eagles (2-5, 0-0 ASC) will play their ASC-opening game versus McM. Ozarks is coming off of a non-conference loss to UT-Tyler (77-73) last Saturday. Senior Haley Ostrander leads the team at 15.6 points per game and fellow senior guard Savannah Kate Smith checks in at 10.1 p.p.g., as well. Delanei Stevens and Smith lead the rebounding at 5.7 and 5.3 boards per game, respectively.
 
LAST TIME OUT VERSUS THE EAGLES: Last season, =the old adage of "it's a marathon, not a sprint" was never more true than in the McMurry University women's basketball, 76-61, win over University of the Ozarks at Kimbrell Arena. Ozarks raced out to an 8-0 lead with 6:50 left in the first quarter and still held a 14-8 cushion at the end of the opening stanza.  From that point on, however, things flowed in the War Hawks' direction.  McMurry out-scored the Eagles in the second quarter, 25-10, to take a 33-24 advantage into the locker room. Each team scored 19 points in the third period, before McM claimed a 24-18 differential in the fourth quarter.  The War Hawks led by as many as 17 points midway through the third quarter.

It was a suffocating defense by McM which helped turn the tide. As a team, McMurry had 15 steals and forced the Eagles into 28 turnovers. The War Hawks converted the UO miscues into 30 points in the transition.
 
McM's Monica Jones had 20 points, five rebounds and four steals, while Sham Hunter chipped in 18 points and 14 boards.
 
SCOUTING UT-TYLER: The Patriots (3-3), transitioning to NCAA Division II, are playing an ASAC schedule, but will not figure into conference standings in 2018-19. After opening the year with three-consecutive losses – two to Whitworth College and Whitman University (who also defeated McMurry) – the Patriots have reeled off three straight wins, including Saturday's victory over Ozarks. Carissa Spiker (18.4 p.p.g.)  and Shadazia Birchette (10.8 p.p.g.) are UTT's top scorers. The duo also lead the rebounding, as Birchette pulls down 7.4 caroms per game and Spiker at 6.2 r.p.g.
 
LAST TIME OUT VERSUS THE PATRIOTS: Last season, in an early-season women's basketball battle between American Southwest Conference division leaders, West Division frontrunner McMurry University handed East Division pole-sitter University of Texas-Tyler its first league loss, 83-73, at Kimbrell Arena. The two teams slugged it out in the first half, which featured nine ties and nine lead changes.  When the dust had settled from the first two quarters, it was UTT holding a 38-36 advantage going into the break.  Neither team was able to even reach a double-digit lead in the first 20 minutes.
 
McMurry's duo of senior Sham Hunter and junior transfer Monica Jones took matters into their own hands in the final two quarters. Hunter would score 19 of her game-leading 23 points in the second half of play alone.  For the evening, Hunter was 7-of-11 from the floor, 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and 6-of-8 from the free throw stripe.  She also pulled down six rebounds.
 
Jones tallied 14 of her 21 points in the final two quarters, as well. For the game, Jones hit 50 percent (8-16) of her field goal tries – hitting 4-of-6 from three-point land - while also hauling in five boards before fouling out.
 
SCOUTING SOUTHWESTERN: The Pirates (1-7) have struggled out of the gate in 2018-19, including losing to ASC teams Hardin-Simmons twice, Howard Payne, UT-Dallas and Mary Hardin-Baylor. Its lone win came versus ASC foe Concordia-Texas. Junior center Cecily Woolfolk checks in at a team-leading 14.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Junior guard Zhaze Brown also averages in double-digit scoring a 11.3 p.p.g. Tori Conway (6.6 r.p.g.) and Kelsey Faykus (4.5 r.p.g.) are also among the rebound leaders.
 
LAST TIME OUT VERSUS THE PIRATES: Last season, the McMurry University women's basketball team closed out calendar year 2017 on a sour note, dropping a non-conference home game to Southwestern University, 61-58, at Kimbrell Arena. Skyler Reyna led a trio of double-digit scorers for McMurry by booking 18 points on an 8-for-16 night shooting from the field. Reyna also pulled down a game-leading 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Sham Hunter also rolled up one of her patented all-around solid efforts. Hunter scored 15 points, hauled in six rebounds, had two assists and a block. She had as many steals on her own (5), then did the entire SU team. Sophomore Sarah Doherty had her third double figure-points total in the last four games by tallying 11 points. Doherty had a team-leading four assists and made a pair of steals.
  
EYE ON THE SKY:  McM junior Skyler Reyna needs nine 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 756 total career points.
 
SISTER ACT: McM freshman sisters Savannah Johnson and Autumn Johnson have been a great addition to the War Hawks roster.  The duo is averaging a combined 14.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, all while shooting .557 (39-70) from the floor.
 
AMONG THE ASC LEADERS: Individually, Skyler Reyna (11.0 p.p.g.) and Savannah Johnson (10.7 p.p.g.) rank 17th and 18th in ASC scoring. Reyna is third in rebounds (8.7 r.p.g.) and Johnson second in field goal percentage (.612). London Weilert is No. 2 in free throw percentage (.875).
 
NEXT WEEK FOR McM: The War Hawks will be off for finals. The team's next game is December 20 at home versus UT-Dallas.