ABILENE – McMurry Women's Basketball launches its season this week with its only two November games.
The War Hawks open on the road at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, visiting Howard Payne, before coming home to take on Hardin-Simmons at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
McMurry Storylines
Four Scorers: McMurry returns its top four scorers from last season's 16-10 team. The War Hawks return
Emily Holland (19.4 points per game, 51 steals),
Kylie Flippin (15.1 ppg),
Helana Chadwick (10.3 ppg, 79 assists) and
Katie Hale (6.5 ppg) from last year's starting lineup, as well as super-sub,
Aryana Cleveland, who averaged 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds.
Picked Fourth: The coaches of the SCAC listed McMurry as the No. 4 team behind Trinity, Colorado College and Texas Lutheran – all of whom received first-place votes in the preseason poll. The most recent games against those three have all been close contests.
Newcomers: Eight newcomers come to McMurry this season. They include freshmen
Mady Shield (5-4, G, Throckmorton),
Cassie Rodriguez (5-3, G, League City) and
J'Lee Sloan (5-10, F, Abilene-Cooper) and transfers
Jordan Bravo (5-9, Jr., G, McAllen) from Concordia,
Karrigan Parrott (5-6, So., G, Abilene-Cooper) from UT-Dallas,
Alyssa Stocks (5-11, So., F, Haskell) from Western Oklahoma,
Jordan Gillespie (6-0, Jr., F, Keller) from the University of Dallas, and
Allison Runnels (6-0, Jr. F, Yorktown, Va,) from Lynchburg.
Scouting Howard Payne: The Yellow Jackets are 1-3 after a 69-57 win over Concordia on Saturday. Guard Taysie Trejo leads the team with 19 points per game, followed by backcourt mate Jazlyn Braithwaite at 14 points and three assists per game. HPU is forcing opponents into more than 20 turnovers per game.
Scouting Hardin-Simmons: The Cowgirls are 4-0 – all against teams in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Jacqueline Berry averages 17.8 points and four assists to lead the HSU backcourt. The Cowgirls are holding opponents to 57 points per game.
