Last Non-Conference Tournament at New Mexico State

PROVO -- The BYU women's softball team (15-7) will travel to Las Cruces, Mexico to play in its last non-conference tournament before opening conference play. The Cougars will play host New Mexico State on Thursday before opening tournament play on Friday against UConn from the Big East and UMKC. The tournament will conclude on Saturday against conference foe New Mexico in a non-conference game and University of Texas-San Antonio.

The meeting against New Mexico State (5-31) will mark the first every meeting between the two teams. Christi Stephens leads the Aggies in batting (.340), hits (34), runs (17), RBI (25), and home runs (9). The Aggies as a team post a .202 batting average and a 5.29 ERA, but the Cougars expect a tough game because the Aggies play in front of a home crowd.

Ironically, the softball team faces the UConn Huskies for the first time ever the same week that the men's basketball will face UConn at the Big Dance in Spokane, Wash. The Huskies (3-9-1) have only played 13 games in the season and are led by Mandy Schettini with a .308 batting average. The team has yet to hit a home run on the season.

The UMKC Kangaroos (3-12) recently lost two games at St. Mary's but their record is no fluke as they are the returning conference champions in 2002. The also have defeated Oregon State and Tennessee earlier in the season.

New Mexico (10-19-1) is playing the Cougars in a non-conference game and will face each other four times in conference play after this weekend. The Lobos are led by freshman shortstop Ashley VanBoxmeer with a .360 batting average and have former MWC Pitcher of the Week Amy Dumas leading them on the mound.

Texas-San Antonio (8-17) is led by sophomore Krystal Gibson who is batting .400. Jessica Rogers is right behind her with a .392 batting average and six home runs on the season.

The Cougars are led by MWC Player of the Week Brooke Cadiente who went a perfect 7-7 against Utah State in the home-opener last weekend. Cadiente leads the team in RBI (22) and slugging percentage (.828). All-American Oli Keohohou leads the team in batting average (.373), runs (22), and home runs (7).

As a team the Cougars have blasted a league-high in 22 home runs and in batting average a .266. The Cougars have also brought in 106 RBI and 116 runs scored, both league-highs.

The Cougars open conference play against Utah on March 29th at Gail Miller Park with a doubleheader starting at noon. Live stats will be available for the game.

Conference             Overall
Team                   W   L   T   Pct   GB   W   L   T   Pct
Colorado State.......  0   0   0  .000   --  19   6   0  .760
BYU..................  0   0   0  .000   --  15   7   0  .682
San Diego State......  0   0   0  .000   --  20  11   0  .645
UNLV.................  0   0   0  .000   --  13  17   0  .433
Utah.................  0   0   0  .000   --   8  14   0  .363
New Mexico...........  0   0   0  .000   --  10  19   1  .350