CO-HITTERS OF THE WEEK
AUTUMN LAWSON, CHARLOTTE
Junior, C, Franklin, Ind.
Lawson batted .462 (6-for-13) last week with five extra-base hits. She had two doubles, a triple and two home runs, while driving in six runs. Lawson drove in the game-winning runs in both games of a doubleheader sweep at East Carolina. She also walked three times and scored four runs.

LINDSAY CHOUINARD, DE PAUL
Senior, DH, Fresno, Calif.
Chouinard went 5-for-10 (.500) at the plate in three Blue Demon victories at the Kia Classic in Fullerton, Calif. Against Fresno State, she hit the game-winning home run in a 3-2 victory. Chouinard had a three-run home run and a double against Notre Dame. She finished the weekend with four runs and six RBI.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
LEIGH ANN ELLIS, SOUTH FLORIDA
Junior, LHP, Barboursville, Va.
Ellis became the second player in Conference USA history (USM's Courtney Blades in 2000) to throw back-to-back no-hitters. She tossed a perfect game in a 10-0 win over Canisius on March 11 and followed it up by no-hitting Ball State on March 12. Ellis also picked up two conference wins over UAB. In 29 innings pitched last week, she allowed just one earned run on eight hits, while striking out 44 and walking eight.


WINNING BIG
Four different Conference USA teams have combined to post seven wins over Top 20 teams, including six victories over top 10 squads. Last season, C-USA defeated six nationally-ranked non-conference foes, but just one was ranked in the Top 10 at the time: Here's a look at this season's ranked wins:

2003 RANKED NON-CONFERENCE WINS
Feb. 8 DePaul 4, (7) LSU 0
Feb. 9 South Florida 5, (8) Oklahoma 4
Feb. 14 UAB 6, (8) Oklahoma 5
Feb. 15 South Florida 5, (17) Notre Dame 4
Mar. 1 Houston 3, (8) LSU 1
Mar. 9 DePaul 1, (1) UCLA 0
Mar. 13 DePaul 7, (3) Nebraska 2

2003 NO-HITTERS
Two players, Louisville's AJA SHERMAN and South Florida's LEIGH ANN ELLIS, have combined to throw three no-hitters this season. Here's a look at hose no-hit efforts:

March 8 Aja Sherman, Louisville (8) vs. Ohio U. (0)
March 11 Leigh Ann Ellis, South Florida (10) vs. Canisius (0)
March 12 Leigh Ann Ellis, South Florida (8) vs. Ball State (0)



ONE-RUN GAMES
Charlotte 6-3
DePaul 4-2
East Carolina 2-4
Houston 3-4
Louisville 1-2
Saint Louis 0-2
South Florida 6-2
Southern Miss 3-1
UAB 4-2

NON-CONFERENCE RECORDS
Charlotte 9-9
DePaul 13-3
East Carolina 14-6
Houston 15-11
Louisville 7-10
Saint Louis 0-0
South Florida 26-7
Southern Miss 8-11
UAB 14-10
TOTAL 106-67

AROUND THE HORN

CHARLOTTE (11-10, 2-1 in 2003): Charlotte won its Conference-opening series, taking two of three at East Carolina this past weekend. AUTUMN LAWSON collected the game-winning RBI in both games of a doubleheader at ECU on Saturday. She also connected on two home runs with three RBI in the second game of the North Carolina doubleheader last week. For the week, she hit .462 with six hits, two doubles, one triple, two home runs and six RBI. Lawson and the rest of the 49ers team have a busy week with six home Conference USA games. They host Louisville in a three-game series, Wednesday and Thursday, March 19-20. Then, they host Saint Louis in a three-game series this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, March 22-23.

DE PAUL (13-3, 0-0 in 2003): The Blue Demons posted three wins at the Kia Classic in Fullerton, Calif. This past weekend, defeating Fresno State, No. 3 Nebraska and Notre Dame. DePaul now has three victories over Top 7 teams this season. At the Kia Classic, Conference USA Hitter of the Week LINDSAY CHOUINARD picked up the win in all three games. In fourteen innings pitched, she retired 10 batters and walked no one while allowing just two earned runs. Chouinard leads C-USA with a 0.67 ERA, has nine wins and three saves. The Demons have won four straight and eight out of nine as they open Conference USA play at UAB on Friday.

EAST CAROLINA (15-10, 1-5 in 2003): The Pirates were 3-2 last week after sweeping a doubleheader from Elon College before dropping two-of-three to Charlotte. In the doubleheader sweep over Elon, MAGGIE LINGO tossed a complete game shutout in game one and KATE MANUSE hit a walk-off home run in game two. CHRSITINE SHERIDAN was 10-for-15 in five games last week with two doubles, a triple and five RBI. She also walked seven times and scored three runs. Sheridan is the team's leading hitter at .415 and also has a team-high 19 RBI. She leads the league with a .558 on-base percentage, thanks in part to a C-USA best 21 walks.

HOUSTON (21-11, 6-0 in 2003): The Cougars were 4-1 last week, opening the week by finishing off a three-game sweep of Conference USA rival Saint Louis before adding two wins over Boston University and one vs. Missouri over the weekend. JEANIE DAVIS only had four hits in five games, but three were home runs, including two in the 5-2 win over Boston U. on Saturday. She leads the team in batting (.370) and slugging percentage (.726) and has moved into a tie with teammate KRISTEN GLOWACZ for the conference lead in home runs with six. JAMIE FALCO pitched a pair of complete games last week, going to 1-1 to bring her season record to 9-4. She gave up a total of three runs on seven hits in the two outings, while striking out nine and walking two.

LOUISVILLE (7-10, 0-0 in 2003): The Cardinals finished 1-3 last week, dropping a doubleheader at Eastern Kentucky and splitting two games with Purdue. JESSIC RAK picked up Louisville's only win of the week, a 2-0 complete-game shutout in game one vs. Purdue. She held the Boilermaker hitless until the sixth inning and allowed just one hit, striking out four while walking three. The Cardinals will open Conference USA play this week with back-to-back road series' at Charlotte and East Carolina.



SAINT LOUIS (1-5, 0-3 in 2003): After opening the season with five straight losses, the Billikens finally got into the win column with a 2-1 victory over Prairie View A&M on Friday. Senior NICOLE BOHNENSTIEHL picked up the win, not allowing an earned run and surrendering just two hits. She struck out 11 and walked just one. MELISSA QUIST was the only Saint Louis player to record multiple hits, going 2-for-3.

SOUTH FLORIDA (31-8, 5-1 in 2003): The No. 21-ranked Bulls posted a 7-1 record last week to improve to 31-8, far exceeding their 2002 victory total of 24. South Florida outscored its opponents 49-5 in those game, winning all but one game by at least five runs. CARMELA LIWAG went 9-for-23 last week with seven extra-base hits. She had four doubles and three home runs, while driving in 13 runs and scoring nine times. STEPHANIE ROBERTS was 11-for18 last week before suffering a broken hand when she was hit by a pitch at UAB on Sunday. KRISTA HOLLE went 7-for-14 with four RBI. NICOLE CHRISTENSEN threw back-to-back two hitters and was 2-1 on the week with a 1.17 ERA.

SOUTHERN MISS (11-14, 0-3 in 2003): The Golden Eagles went 4-0 for the week, collecting their longest winning streak of the season. Doubleheader sweeps over Northwestern State and McNeese State improved USM's batting average from .206 to .228 and dropped its ERA from 3.01 to 2.61. AURIEL JENKINS recorded her fourth home run of the season last week. The junior has sent four out of the park in the last 13 games, and she leads the team in runs scored with 15, slugging percentage with .565, and stolen bases with eight. JESSICA HUERTA was the hottest Golden Eagle hitter last week, batting .636 in the four games. She JESSICA HOLAWAY pitched two-consecutive shutouts and has given up one earned run in her last 19 innings pitched. She had nine strikeouts and no walks in the two games.

UAB (15-12, 1-2 in 2003): The Blazers opened Conference USA play by dropping two-of-three to No. 21 South Florida this past weekend. In UAB's 3-1 win in game two on Saturday, KELLI THOMPSON picked up her fifth victory of the year, allowing just five hits and striking out eight. ALEXIS KRESKE hit her second home run of the year in the win. CANDACE HITHE has stolen a league-high 16 bases this season. KERRI FOSTER ranks second in Conference USA in strikeouts with 83. UAB will host its second straight conference series against a ranked opponent when No. 13 DePaul visits on Friday and Saturday.


2003 C-USA TOURNAMENT
The 2003 Conference USA Softball Tournament is scheduled for May 8-10 in Houston, Texas. The University of Houston will serve as the host institution for the event with all games being played at the Houston Softball Stadium.

The top six finishers in the regular season standings will compete in the double-elimination tournament, with the champion receiving the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. The championship game on May 10 will be televised by affiliates of the Conference USA Television Network.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Each Monday during the season Conference USA names a Hitter of the Week and a Pitcher of the Week. Here's a look at this season's winners:

HITTER OF THE WEEK
Feb. 10 Courtney Lewellen C South Florida
Feb. 17 Kristen Glowacz SS/OF Houston
Feb. 24 Courtney Lewellen C South Florida
Mar. 3 Holly Groves OF South Florida
Mar. 10 Kristen Glowacz SS/OF Houston
Mar. 17 Autumn Lawson C Charlotte
Lindsay Chouinard DH DePaul

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Feb. 10 Lindsay Chouinard LHP DePaul
Feb. 17 Kerri Foster RHP UAB
Feb. 24 Leigh Ann Ellis LHP South Florida
Mar. 3 Jamie Falco RHP Houston
Mar. 10 Lindsay Chouinard LHP DePaul
Aja Sherman RHP Louisville
Mar. 17 Leigh Ann Ellis LHP South Florida

MAKING PROGRESS
For the fourth year in a row, Conference USA teams are showing an improvement in non-conference action: League teams have won more than 60 percent of their non-league games in 2003. Here's a look at how the league has fared in non-conference action in all four years the league has had softball:

2003: 106-67 (.613)
2002: 180-125-1 (.589)
2001: 94-81-1 (.537)
2000: 78-71 (.523)