Feb. 28, 2004

Final Stats

CLINTON, Miss. - Hardin-Simmons won its seventh straight American Southwest Conference title with its sixth-straight ASC Tournament Title win as they defeated arch-rival Howard Payne, 74-61, Saturday night in Clinton, Miss.

Diana Martinez led the Cowgirls for the second straight night, as she had 18 points to lead five players in double figures. Lauren Harris had 14 points, Veronica Jones added 12, Magna Green had 11 and Keila Remmele chipped in 10.

The first half was a series of runs by both teams. Hardin-Simmons trailed 12-10, but scored seven straight to make it 17-12. Magna Green and Melissa Forth each had lay-ups and Lauren Harris capped the run with a 3-pointer.

Howard Payne then came back with a 9-0 run later in the half to take a 24-21 lead. Angie Evans and Jennifer Alexander each had 3-pointers in the run. Hardin-Simmons used a 16-5 run towards the end of the half to make it 42-32, before HPU hit one of two free throws with no time left on the first half clock to make it 42-33 at the half.

HPU made the first basket of the second half to cut it to seven at 42-35, but a 3-pointer by Martinez and a lay-up by Veronica Jones made it 47-35 and Howard Payne got within as few as 10 points only two other times in the second half, until an Alexander 3-pointer cut it to nine at 67-58.

Veronica Jones immediately scored a lay-up to make it 69-58. Two free throws by Nicole Salzman made it 69-60 with 1:35 to go. Melissa Forth split a pair of free throws with 1:10 to go in the game, snapping a streak of 16 straight makes at the charity stripe for the Cowgirls.

HSU started the game 2-of-6 at the line and hit 15-of-19 free throws in the first half. It was a different story in the second half, as the Cowgirls shot just two free throws until the last minute. In fact, HPU had to foul three straight times late in the game just to get the Cowgirls in the bonus in the second half.

The win moved the Cowgirls to 25-2 on the year and Howard Payne closes its campaign at 20-7. HSU will await the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday at 9 p.m. to find out who and when they will play in the NCAA Tournament.

Martinez made it six straight seasons the Cowgirls has had the MVP of the Tournament. Kathryn Otwell had one MVP and Kendra Anderson won the next four. HSU has won the tournament all six years it has been played. Lauren Harris and Veronica Jones joined Martinez on the all-tournament team.