HITTER OF THE WEEK
MICHELLE VASQUEZ, LOUISVILLE
Freshman, SS, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Vasquez helped the Cardinals win four of five Conference USA road games last week by batting .467 (7-for-15). She had at least one hit in each game, recording three doubles and four RBI, while scoring three runs.


PITCHER OF THE WEEK
NICOLE BOHNENSTIEHL, SAINT LOUIS
Senior, RHP, Lebanon, Ill.
Bohnenstiehl posted three complete game victories and added one save in four appearances last week. In 19 2/3 innings pitched, she struck out 30 batters, while walking just two. Bohnenstiehl allowed just three runs on eight hits on the week. Sunday's win over Charlotte allowed her to become the school's all-time winningest pitcher with 31 career victories.



NATIONAL POLLS
USA Today/NFCA Poll (Mar. 18)
In the most recent USA TODAY/NFCA Poll, DePaul is ranked No. 13, while South Florida is No. 22. The Blue Demons were ranked No. 8 on Feb. 17, marking the highest ranking by a C-USA team since Southern Miss finished No. 6 in the final 2000 poll. Here's a look at the entire poll:

1. UCLA (18)
2. Arizona (2)
3. Washington Nebraska
4. Oklahoma
5. Nebraska
6. California
7. Texas
8. LSU
9. Cal State Fullerton
10. DE PAUL
11. Georgia
12. Stanford
13. Arizona State
14. South Carolina
15. Michigan
16. Ohio State
17. Florida State
18. Alabama
19. Oregon
20. Oregon State
21. SOUTH FLORIDA
22. Oklahoma State
23. Texas A&M
24. Kansas
25. Minnesota

CHOUINARD EARNS ANOTHER HONOR
The Amateur Softball Association, the National Governing Body of Softball in the United States, announced that DePaul's LINDSAY CHOUINARD has been selected as USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Week for the week of March 10 -16. She was also chosen to be the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I Player of the Week. At the Kia Klassic in Fullerton, California, Chouinard and her teammates won their pool after beating out national powers Fresno State, No. 3 Nebraska, and Notre Dame. Against Fresno State, Chouinard hit a home run in the seventh inning to win the game 3-2. In the Blue Demons' game against Notre Dame, she hit a three-run homer and a double to put the slaughter rule into affect, beating the Fighting Irish 11-2. In three games, she hit 5-for-10 and hit two home runs and a double. She scored four runs and collected an outstanding nine RBIs. Chouinard was also a force on the mound at the tournament. She pitched three wins, including the seven innings against No. 3 Nebraska where she struck out eight Huskers. In fourteen innings, she retired 10 batters and walked no one while allowing just two earned runs.

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 7-3
DePaul 5-2
East Carolina 2-5
Houston 3-4
Louisville 1-3
Saint Louis 0-2
South Florida 6-4
Southern Miss 5-2
UAB 4-3

NON-CONFERENCE RECORDS
Charlotte 9-9
DePaul 13-3
East Carolina 14-8
Houston 16-12
Louisville 7-10
Saint Louis 1-2
South Florida 26-7
Southern Miss 9-12
UAB 14-10
TOTAL 109-73

DID YOU KNOW?
DePaul's LINDSEY CHOUINARD becomes only the second player in C-USA history to earn the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Player of the Week accolades. Southern Miss' Courtney Blades (2000) earned this distinction three times during the 2000 season.


AROUND THE HORN

CHARLOTTE (12-14, 3-5 in 2003): Charlotte continued to battle the weather last week, finally getting in two games against Louisville before hosting a three-game series versus Saint Louis. DENISE ATMAR and MELANIE THEVENOTE paced the 49ers for the week with each batting .333. Atmar went 5-for-15 with her third home run of the season, while Thevenote went 4-for-12. In game two of the Louisville series, Thevenote hit a game-tying two-run double to help the Niners to a 6-5 win. This week, Charlotte plays a doubleheader at Virginia Tech before heading to South Florida for a three-game series.

DE PAUL (16-3, 3-0 in 2003): The Blue Demons swept their opening Conference USA series at UAB, holding the Blazers to one run in each game. SARAH MARTZ, who was 5-for-9 in the UAB series, leads all C-USA players with a .431 batting average. She also picked up a win on the mound for DePaul, her fourth of the season. LINDSAY CHOUINARD was credited with the other two wins, giving her nine on the season, and she also picked up the save in Martz's start. Though she allowed 13 hits in 15 innings pitched, she allowed only two earned runs.

EAST CAROLINA (15-15, 1-8 in 2003): The Pirates were swept by Louisville over the weekend, suffered three straight shutouts. ECU also dropped an 8-6 decision to UNC-Greensboro on March 19. Game two of the doubleheader was halted in the bottom of the fifth inning due to darkness, however the Spartans claimed the victory with a 5-4 score. CHRISTINE SHERIDAN led the Pirates, batting 4-for-4 with one home run and two RBI. MANDI NICHOLS led a late rally in the seventh inning, notching her first grand slam of the year. However, the Spartans would hold on to the 8-6 lead. Sheridan is the team's leading hitter at .415 and also has a team-high 21 RBI. She leads the league with a .558 on-base percentage, thanks in part to a C-USA best 21 walks.

HOUSTON (22-13, 6-0 in 2003): The Cougars swept Texas-Arlington, 4-1 and 3-0, in a doubleheader on Wednesday. In game one, JAMIE FALCO (10-4) allowed one run on five hits, struck out nine and faced 28 batters in her ninth complete game of the season. KRISTEN GLOWACZ, a two-time Conference USA Hitter of the Week in 2003, went 3-of-3 in game two, pacing the Houston offense with two singles and a triple. She currently leads the conference in doubles (10) and homeruns (6). In two games last week, JAMIE FALCO recorded 14 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched. She leads UH in ERA (1.06) and victories (10).

LOUISVILLE (11-11, 4-1 in 2003): The Cardinals won four of five games on their North Carolina road trip, splitting a pair of games at Charlotte before posting three consecutive shutout victories at East Carolina. JESSICA RAK posted three wins in four appearances last week. In 23 innings pitched, she struck out 23 and allowed just four runs on 10 hits. She has been credited with the win in seven of Louisville's 11 victories this season. SARA BAUSHER is third in C-USA in slugging percentage (.609) and leads the team with a .348 batting average and four home runs.



SAINT LOUIS (1-5, 0-3 in 2003): Senior NICOLE BOHNENSTIEHL has broken the career wins record at SLU with her 31st win. Her record setting win was in the final game at Charlotte on Sunday. Bohnenstiehl passed Mikki McPherson who registered 30 wins from 1990-93. Bohnenstiehl has set the SLU record in just over two and a half seasons. The nine runs the Billikens scored against Charlotte were the most by SLU in a C-USA game. The previous high in a league contest was eight against Houston in 2001. SLU's three-game total at Charlotte of 23 runs was also the most SLU has ever scored in a C-USA series. The previous best was 12 against Houston in 2001. The Billikens have won six straight games for just the fourth time in school history. Saint Louis will look to tie the school record of seven consecutive wins against nationally-ranked DePaul on Wednesday.

SOUTH FLORIDA (31-8, 5-1 in 2003): The Bulls dropped two of three to Southern Miss over the weekend. In five games last week, COURTNEY LEWELLEN was 8-for-15 with a pair of doubles and five RBI. In four games last week, LEIGH ANN ELLIS was 2-1 with a 0.32 ERA in 22 innings pitched. She allowed just one earned run on 14 hits, striking out 22 and walking just three. Ellis has been credited with the win in 18 of the 32 USF victories. South Florida leads C-USA in batting (.298), doubles (56) and triples (8).

SOUTHERN MISS (12-15, 0-3 in 2003): The Golden Eagles collected their first C-USA series win of the season, this past weekend, and their first series over nationally ranked South Florida in three seasons. Southern Miss produced 16 hits in game two against the Bulls, the most hits USM has ever recorded against a C-USA opponent. HEATHER BELL batted .375 for the week and .444 (4-for-9) against South Florida, leading the Golden Eagles in collecting the series against the Bulls. She hit a perfect 3-for-3 with a run and a triple and two RBIs in game two against South Florida and collected her second home run of the season against Ole Miss. JESSICA HOLAWAY recorded two wins and a save last week. The junior pitched her fourth shutout of the season against Ole Miss, tying her season high of 8 strikeouts against the Rebels. Holaway also got the win in game one against USF, giving up six hits and one run and striking out six.

UAB (15-12, 1-2 in 2003): The Blazers were swept by No. 10 DePaul this past weekend. In four games last week, KRIS LARA was 5-for-11 with one run scored to lead all UAB hitters. The Blazers posted a 1-0 shutout win over Samford on March 18. KELLI THOMPSON tossed a one-hit complete game for her sixth win of the season ion that game. She struck out nine in that outing and added eight more strikeouts in two appearances vs. DePaul, holding the Blue demons to two hits in the final game of the series. On the season, Thompson has a 1.68 ERA and 53 strikeouts.

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.