Belton, Texas – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor men's and women's basketball teams will close out a five-game home stand, and the home portion of the regular season schedule, with a pair of doubleheaders this week. The Cru will welcome McMurry University to the Mayborn Campus Center on Thursday before Hardin-Simmons University comes to town on Saturday.
The Cru women will go into Thursday's game with a one game lead over McMurry for first place in the American Southwest Conference West Division. UMHB is 17-3 overall and 10-2 in ASC with the Cru's only loss in its last 14 games came against the War Hawks. McMurry is 11-8 overall and 9-3 in the ASC on the season. UMHB is leading the ASC in scoring at 75.5 points per game and is also the league's top rebounding squad.
Hannah Holt tops the ASC in scoring at 17.8 points per game with
Kendall Rollins ranking fourth in the league at 15.6 points per outing.
Alicia Blackwell and
Meghan Turner rank second and third in the conference in assists per game and
Ashley Caldwell has an ASC best 60 blocked shots on the season. Skyler Reyna leads McMurry in scoring at 15.4 points per game and she had 17 points and 12 rebounds when the War Hawks beat the Cru 68-63 in the previous meeting three weeks ago in Abilene. The Hardin-Simmons women enter this week's play at 4-15 overall and 2-10 in the ASC. Danie Mabry tops the Cowgirls at 14.2 points per game and she scored 25 points in HSU's 88-79 loss to UMHB earlier this season.
The Cru men are 14-6 overall and are tied for second in the ASC West with a 7-5 league mark going into this week's action. McMurry brings a 7-12 overall record and 5-7 league mark into Thursday night's contest. UMHB rolled past the War Hawks 101-60 in the previous meeting between the two teams as the Cru shot 53 percent overall and 48 percent from three-point range in the win.
Demarius Cress is UMHB's leading scorer at 15.8 points per game and
LaKendric Hyson and
Sam Moore are also averaging in double figures. Cress and
Aubrie King are also both closing in on the Cru career record for three-pointers made. LaRandall Scroggins is McMurry's leading scorer at 13.8 points per game, but the War Hawks scoring average of 73.3 points per contest is 12
th out of 13 teams in the ASC. Hardin-Simmons is 7-13 overall and 5-7 in the ASC going into this week's play. The Cowboys edged UMHB 90-86 when the two teams faced off in Abilene earlier this season. Joe Hoeup leads HSU in scoring at 16.2 points per game and Caleb Spoon is right behind him at 15.9 points per contest.
Thursday's games are scheduled for 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM with Saturday's games set for 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM. UMHB basketball will also honor its five senior student-athletes between Saturday's contests. The Cru Athletic Department will provide live video streaming and live statistics for all of this week's games with the links available on the UMHB Athletic Department web site at
www.cruathletics.com.
