Won and done: HSU Cowgirls finished league play 18-0 with tough win over Mary Hardin-Baylor

What's better than a perfect 10?

Try a perfect 18.

Hardin-Simmons for the first time since head coach Kendra Whitehead was in a Cowgirls uniform herself rocketed through the American Conference Conference without a loss with Saturday's 84-67 win over Mary Hardin-Baylor at the Mabee Complex.

UMHB (18-7, 13-5) came into the game on a four-game winning streak and tied for second place with East Texas Baptist. The Lady Cru had played the Cowgirls close in an 87-78 loss in Belton. East Texas lost 52-51 at No. 4 University of Texas-Dallas on Saturday, leaving those squads tied for second.

HSU (23-2, 18-0) has been on a bigger roll and won its 20th straight game. The No. 8 Cowgirls enter the ASC tournament, which will be settled next weekend back at Mabee, with a chance to advance to the NCAA Division III playoffs for a second straight year.

The Cowgirls gets a first-round tourney bye and will play Friday in the semifinals. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday.

This Saturday's win over the Cru from Belton also was the 100th for Whitehead.

"It's super awesome," said Parris Parmer, who had a game-high 22 points for HSU. "We can't thank our coach enough for pushing us and not ever letting us get comfortable.

"But now, we need to look forward to the next game."

Cru starts fast, but HSU fights back

The win Saturday didn't come easy but HSU vs. UMHB games usually are contested.

And tighter game than what the Cowgirls recently had was good for big games ahead.

"Mary Hardin-Baylor has a great program and they have great athletes, physical players. We knew this game would be a challenge, "Whitehead said. "But it's good timing because this leads us right into the conference tournament."

Parmer agreed.

"It's good to play a great team because we have the tournament next weekend," said Parmer, one of six seniors on the HSU roster. The Cowgirls started five of them Saturday.

"It's zero-zero when it's the tournament," she said. Records coming in won't matter.

"One loss and you're out, so it was good to get some really good competition and not let it get to our head because we have to get ready for the next one."

Mary Hardin-Baylor scored the first basket of the game and led by as many six points in the first quarter, hitting 9 of 13 shots. HSU trailed 21-16.

"They hit us hard in the rebounding battle - they're always tough down there," Parmer said.

The second quarter was a different story.

Paris Kiser sank a 3-pointer on HSU's first shot and the Cowgirls took their first lead on Parris Parmer's three-point play to make it 22-21.

The Cru regained the lead twice, the last time at 29-28.

But Hallie Edmondson, who had missed a couple of layups, netted two on consecutive possessions to give HSU a 31-28 lead.

It was 35-34 late in the quarter when Kiser fed Parmer for a layup and Parmer assisted Natasha Blizzard at the buzzer to give the Cowgirls a 39-34 halftime lead.

"We just kept fighting and ultimately made more shots," Parmer said. "We pushed really hard in transition and got some open looks and got to the line quite a bit. But we took some really great shots. When the defense collapsed, we hit the open 3-point shot, and that's the shot we really wanted."

A week after hitting a school-record 19 treys against McMurry, HSU was 8-of-17.

After the first quarter, too, HSU played better defense and the shots weren't falling for the Cru. The visitors hit 27% in the second quarter, 32% and only 12% in the final quarter as the they hurried shots in an attempt to catch up.

HSU shoots well but had too many turnovers

After halftime, the Cowgirls expanded their lead to as many as 15 points, scoring 30 points. HSU made 4-of -6 3-pointers in the quarter, taking a 69-52 lead into the final frame.

HSU's biggest lead was 20 points after Samantha Tatum's three-point play, but Lauren Baker's hitting her only trey for the Cru downcourt for the final score.

Baker led her team with 17 points.

Whitehead's team, one of the best shooting teams in Division III, hit 55% of its shots, but also turned the ball over 19 times.

As the team preps for the ASC tourney and a potential post-season run, she'd like to see that number drop.

"We still are turning the ball over too much on our own, but Mary Hardin-Baylor ... they do speed you up and apply a lot of pressure one on one. Pressure we're not used to seeing," Whitehead said. "It makes you question your decision-making. I give credit to them on that but I would like to see us clean that up."

On the upside, "We're shooting it really well," the HSU coach said. "It's fun to see the skilled basketball players on our team. They hit the open shot. We find the right people and get them into position to score."

For example, post player Blizzard, who benefited from nice passes underneath. She sank 7 of her 8 shots on her way to 19 points.

Parmer was 8 of 12 from the field.

What's ahead

HSU will play the tourney Game 2 winner at 7:30 Friday at Mabee.

The tourney winner automatically qualifies for the NCAA tournament, HSU beat East Texas Baptist last year to advance.

The Cowgirls bowed out of the playoffs in the first round, losing 61-57 to Trinity at Mabee.

This year's team has two losses - both to Trinity, which is ranked No. 4 nationally and 22-1 overall.

More irony. The last HSU team to run the table in conference play was the 2002-03 squad, which went 14-0. That team went unbeaten the entire season before losing in the second round of the playoffs to ... Trinity.

AMERICAN SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE WOMEN

No. 8/9 Hardin-Simmons 84, Mary Hardin-Baylor 67

Mary Hardin-Baylor … 21 … 13 … 18 … 15 – 67

Hardin-Simmons … 16 … 23 … 30 … 15-- 84

Mary Hardin-Baylor (18-7, 13-45 - Ashley Faux 5 202 12, Weade Adeleke 0 0-0 0, Lauren Baker 6 4-4 17, Arieona Rosborough 2 4-6 8, Jaycie Brsico 2 909 5, Payton Hicks 1 3-4 5, Catalina Cortez 4 0-0 10, McCall Hampton 0 1-2 1, Addy Self 1 0-0 2, Kenna Gibson 2 0-0 5, Aja Holmes 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 14-18 67.

Hardin-Simmons (32-2, 18-0) – Parris Parmer 8 4-6 22, Natasha Blizzard 7 5-6 19, Paris Kiser 3 1-2 8 Hallie Edmondson 4 0-2 9, Samantha Tatum 3 2-2 19, Aiken Semones 0 2-2 2 Kylie Ellsworth 1 0-0 2, She'Ray Wilson 3 0-0 8, Angelene Sacco 1 2-2 4,. Totals 30 16-22 84

3-Point Goals – UMHB 5 (Cortez 2, Baker, Brisco, Gibson). HSU 8 (Parmer 2, Tatum 2, Wilson 2, Kiser, Edmondson). Total Fouls – UMHB 19, HSU 15 Fouled Out – Rosborough (UMHB) Technical Fouls – None

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Won and done: Cowgirls finished league play 18-0 with tough win vs. Cru