Feb. 17, 2005

Final Stats

ABILENE, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' Diana Martinez and Concordia-Austin's Ashley Edwards are the two premiere seniors in the American Southwest Conference and on Thursday night they put on a show at the Mabee Complex as Hardin-Simmons remained tied for first place in the ASC West Division with a 67-66 win.

Edwards had 22 points in the first half on a wide variety of runners and a deft outside touch and finished the game with 34 points, seven assists and six rebounds in 40 minutes of game time. Martinez was called on to guard her in the second half and did a good job. Martinez came through in crunch time offensively for the Cowgirls.

Trailing 55-53 with 8:20 to go, Martinez scored nine of the Cowgirls next 11 points, including a 3-pointer at the 2:46 mark that made it 64-60. The senior from Comanche finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals while playing all 40 minutes.

The Cowgirls shot 48 percent in the game, recovering from a week where they shot 26 percent. HSU shared the ball well with 21 assists on 29 shots. Lyssa Dennard was high scorer for the Cowgirls with 19, Melissa Henley also added 16 for HSU.

Jessica Vasquez, who hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute including one as time expired, was the only other Tornado in double figures.

HSU hosts Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday and needs to win and get a Texas Lutheran win over Howard Payne to host the ASC Tournament. They can finish no lower than second in the ASC West. HSU is 20-3 on the year and 18-3 in league play. Concordia-Austin, who is tied with Mary Hardin-Baylor for fourth place in the ASC West, fell to 15-9 and 14-7 in conference play.