Photo by Russell Marwitz/russellmarwitz.com/True To The Cru
ABILENE, Texas-The biggest road trip of the season is on tap for UMHB women’s basketball team. Abilene promises to offer a pair of difficult tests in American Southwest Conference play for The Cru, who have not yet lost in league action, but will have their perfect 6-0 mark challenged by both Hardin-Simmons and McMurry in a significant way. HSU and McMurry, knotted in a tie for second place, trail UMHB by a single game in the league standings.
At 13-1 overall, and in the midst of a 13-game win streak, UMHB moved up three spots in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll on Monday, ascending to the No. 20 spot. In the WBCA Top 25 Poll, the Crusaders are ranked 19th, continuing a steady climb in both of the major national rankings. It marks the second consecutive week in which UMHB finds itself nationally-ranked by both voting panels.
Those new rankings come on the heels of a 2-0 week for head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir’s squad, who defeated Ozarks and UT-Dallas in Belton.
In the victory over Ozarks, UMHB gained separation in the second quarter, and prevailed with a 72-61 win, as Arieona Rosborough led the way with 31 points. While the offense stalled at times, UMHB grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, maintaining its place as one of the country’s top offensive-rebounding squads. As of Wednesday, The Cru ranks fourth in the country in offensive boards per game, at 19.6.
On Saturday against UT-Dallas, Rosborough gave the hosts their first points of the game, and with her first free throw of the afternoon, reached the career 1,000-point mark. She went on to score 17 points in the 83-64 win, as UMHB outscored the Comets 23-10 in the opening quarter. In fact, the Crusaders outscored UTD in three of the game’s four quarters, defeating the Comets at the Mayborn Campus Center for the third straight time.
Hardin-Simmons (12-2, 5-1 ASC) is next on the schedule for The Cru, with Thursday’s 5:30 p.m. matchup in Abilene featuring the ASC’s two nationally-ranked programs. The Cowgirls, led by five seniors, are No. 14 in the D3hoops.com Poll and No. 10 in the WBCA ranking. The league-leader in points per game, HSU averages 85.5 per contest, and shoots a conference-best 44.7 percent from the field.
Much of that offensive production is a credit to fifth-year senior Parris Parmer, whose 29 points lifted HSU to an 87-81 win over McMurry last Saturday in a crosstown showdown in Abilene. Parmer averages 13.6 points per game, but is second on the team in scoring, as fellow fifth-year standout Paris Kiser averages 18.5 points. Kiser’s average is No. 2 in the league, just behind UMHB’s Rosborough, who enters Thursday’s duel at 19.6 points per contest. A transfer from UT-Dallas, Kiser is in her second season with HSU, and shoots 47.2 percent. Also look for point guard Anna Fanelli to make an impact against The Cru. The starting point guard at Colorado College last season, Fanelli transferred to HSU for her fifth year, and now leads the conference in assists (72), assists per game (5.1), and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8).
Always a pivotal matchup in the ASC title race, HSU won both meetings against The Cru last season, though UMHB won the three previous to that. Since 2003-04, UMHB is 8-13 in games against HSU in Abilene, and 20-23 overall. The two programs will also battle in the regular season finale in Belton this season.
Following that contest, UMHB battles McMurry (10-4, 5-1 ASC) at 1 p.m. on Saturday. McMurry is off to one of its best starts in program history, led by the efforts of third-year head coach Drew Long. The Warhawks are in unfamiliar territory, tied for second in the league; just two seasons ago, they went 3-20 overall, and 2-15 in league play. Last year saw a step forward, as McMurry went 12-12 overall, finishing at .500 or better for the first time since 2017-18. This season, things have gotten off to an even better start, with McMurry winning its first five conference games, including victories over ETBU and UTD.
Emily Holland has been a key reason for the turnaround. A two-sport star, she was the ASC’s Offensive Player of the Year in soccer this past season, and now ranks third in the league in points per game in basketball (17.7). A dynamic threat on the offensive end, Holland shoots a conference-high 37.3 percent from 3-point range and averages 2.5 3-pointers made per game.
UMHB is 19-19 against McMurry since 2003-04, and has won the last 11 meetings against the Warhawks, five of which have been contested in Abilene.
Thursday’s matchup from the Mabee Complex on the campus of Hardin-Simmons University can be seen live on hsuathletics.com. Saturday’s duel at McMurry’s Kimbrell Arena will be broadcasted on mcmurrysports.com.
