HITTER OF THE WEEK
GINNY GEORGANTAS, SOUTH FLORIDA
Senior, 3B, Lockport, Ill.
Georgantas batted .583 (7-for-12) in four games last week as the Bulls went 3-1. She hit safely in each outing, recording three multiple hit games. Georgantas had a double, a home run, four RBI and five runs scored on the week.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
CORIN TASSIO, SOUTH FLORIDA
Sophomore, RHP, Sarasota, Fla.
Tassio ran her consecutive win streak to six by picking up the victory in all three of her appearances last week, including a win over No. 14 Iowa and two victories against Southern Miss. In 17 1/3 innings pitched on the week, she allowed just three runs and struck out 14 with only four walks. .

WINNING BIG
Four different Conference USA teams have combined to post six wins over nationally-ranked opponents this season:

Feb. 2 Houston 5 (17) Southwest Texas 0
Feb. 3 Houston 9, (17) Southwest Texas 1
Feb. 8 DePaul 8, (4) LSU 4
Feb. 16 Louisville 4, (14) Notre Dame 3
Feb. 23 DePaul 2, (12) Pacific 0
Mar. 21 South Florida 5, (14) Iowa 4

Last season, three different C-USA schools posted victories over nationally-ranked, non-conference teams, including three victories over top five teams. South Florida had three of the five wins over ranked opponents, while DePaul had two and Southern Miss had one. The 2-1 win by Southern Miss over No. 3 Oklahoma last February 25 marked the highest-ranked opponent that a Conference USA softball team has ever defeated.


JUST SAY NO
2002 C-USA NO-HITTERS
Feb. 23, 2002 Lindsay Chouinard, DPU vs. (12) Pacific
Feb. 23, 2002 Megan Stephenson, UAB vs. Centenary
Mar. 1, 2002 Betsy Thompson, CHA vs. North Carolina A&T*
*Perfect Games

ONE-RUN GAMES
Charlotte 2-3
DePaul 1-3
East Carolina 3-4
Houston 5-4
Louisville 4-6
Saint Louis 2-2
South Florida 6-3
Southern Miss 2-5
UAB 4-2

CHARLOTTE (15-14, 1-4): The 49ers were 2-3 last week, including their first Conference USA win of the year, a 4-3 decision at Houston on March 23. STEPHANIE DUNLAP was instrumental in both Charlotte victories, homering in each win, including a grand slam against Winthrop on March 19. Her blast at Houston on Saturday was her seventh round-tripper of the season, tying her own single-season home run record which she set in 1999. BETSY THOMPSON struck out nine in a 1-0 loss to Winthrop on March 19, but rebounded with her eighth victory of the year at Houston on Saturday. The Niners lead Conference USA in batting (.316), slugging percentage (.454), on-base percentage (.383) and doubles (50).

DE PAUL (14-6, 2-1): The Blue Demons opened Conference USA play by winning two-of-three at East Carolina this past weekend. SHAVAUGHNE DESECKI had a hit in each outing, including the game-winning double in game one of Saturday's doubleheader sweep. LINDSAY CHOUINARD picked up her seventh win of the season in that game, throwing all eight innings in a 2-1 win. She has eight complete games in nine starts and boasts a league-best 0.59 ERA. SARAH MARTZ picked up the victory in game two, improving to 4-1 on the year. The Blue Demons lead C-USA with a team ERA of 1.04.

EAST CAROLINA (21-12, 3-3): The Pirates were 3-2 last week, including a doubleheader sweep against UNC Wilmington and their first win over a ranked opponent when they defeated No. 16 DePaul, 4-3 on Sunday. NICOLE BACON threw three complete games last week, picking up two wins, including the victory over DePaul. She struck out 22 and walked just two in the three outings while raising her record to 12-6. Bacon has a 0.86 Era and has fanned a league-best 128 batters with only 18 walks. BETH BRIDGER was 5-for-14 at the plate last week with a pair of home runs, three RBI and three runs scored. One of her home runs was the game-winner against DePaul.

HOUSTON (24-14, 4-5): The Cougars took two-of-three from Charlotte to improve to 24-14 on the season, a two-game improvement over last year's victory total. JENILEE SKENDER was 5-for-9 in the series with a home run and three RBI in the series. JENNY JOHNSON pitched six innings of four-hit shutout relief in game one on Saturday and then won game two, allowing one run on five hits over five innings. RAY FERRERIS hit a two run homer to help the Cougars win game three on Sunday, 4-3. JAMIE FALCO picked up her 10th win of the season, striking out five. Cougar pitchers have recorded a league-high 254 strikeouts this season.

LOUISVILLE (15-17, 3-2): The Cardinals swept a conference doubleheader at Saint Louis on March 20 before returning home for the U of L Spring Tournament, where they won a non-conference game against the Billikens and lost twice to No. 13 Michigan. LISA ESTES was 5-for-14 (.357) last week, including a double in each game of the U of L Spring Tournament. She also had a game-tying triple at Saint Louis on March 20 before scoring the winning run in a 6-5 victory. JESSICA RAK has been the workhorse of the Cardinals pitching staff this spring. She has appeared in a league-high 26 games and leads Conference USA in starts (18), innings pitched (129 1/3) and wins (13). Louisville has 66 extra-base hits (45 doubles, six triples and 15 home runs), compared to 34 for its opponents.

SAINT LOUIS (12-11, 1-7): The Billikens suffered through a tough week, dropping all five contests, including two against No. 13 Michigan. ERIN JEFFERY hit safely in all five games last week. ADRIE BOGAARS hit her fourth homer of the year, which is just one away from the school mark of five hit last season by Meredith Henry. As a team, SLU has set a new single season record with 10 home runs. NICOLE BOHNENSTIEHL needs just 10 more strikeouts for 300 in her career. She has fanned 79 batters in 80 2/3 innings pitched this season.




SOUTH FLORIDA (19-21-1, 5-3): The Bulls increased their winning streak to 11 games before finally having it snapped with a loss in game tow of Saturday's doubleheader with Southern Miss. South Florida has won 12 of its last 13 following a 4-1 win on Sunday over USM. CORIN TASSIO has six wins in the last two weeks and has moved into a tie with NIKI TROWELL for the team lead in victories with eight. COURTNEY LEWELLEN had three more doubles last week, increasing her league-leading season total to 14. The Bulls have stolen 80 bases this season, compared to 30 for their opponents. Freshman SHELLY RIKER, who leads C-USA with 34 walks, has 23 stolen bases, more than any other player in the league.

SOUTHERN MISS (15-18, 6-3): The Golden Eagles dropped two-of-three at South Florida this past weekend. JESSICA HOLAWAY picked up her second shutout of the season in game two's 2-0 win on Saturday. She struck out four and walked none in picking up her seventh win of the season. LAURA DAVIS hit a combined 5-8 in three games against USF, finishing the week 6-for-13 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. The Golden Eagles failed to hit a home run against South Florida, marking the first Conference USA series ever without a homer for USM. The Golden Eagles opened their new softball facility last week by hosting Arkansas on March 21. A crowd of nearly 700 watched USM drop both games to the Razorbacks by one run.

UAB (20-7, 3-0): The Blazers were idle last week. In their last action, on March 15-17 UAB swept a three-game series from Saint Louis to open league play. Junior KELLI THOMPSON is 6-1 on the season with six complete games. Thompson (6), KERRI FOSTER (6) and MEGAN STEPHENSON (7) have combined to throw 19 complete games so far this season. Blazers pitchers are holding opponents to a league-low .196 batting average. UAB returns to action on Tuesday when it carries a nine-game winning streak to East Carolina.

MAKING PROGRESS
For the second year in a row, Conference USA teams have shown an improvement in non-conference action: League teams have won nearly 60 percent of their non-league games in 2002. Here's a look at how the league has fared at this point of the season in all three years the league has had softball:

2002: 126-91-1 (.583)
2001: 94-81-1 (.537)
2000: 78-71 (.523)

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
F11 Kristen Glowacz OF Houston
F18 Leah Heston 3B Charlotte
F25 Adrie Bogaars 3B/C Saint Louis
M4 Angie Manzo 3B East Carolina
M11 Stephanie Dunlap 1B Charlotte
Melissa Jacobo 3B Louisville
M18 Holly Groves OF South Florida
M25 Ginny Georgantas 3B South Florida

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
F11 Lindsay Chouinard LHP DePaul
F18 Jessica Rak RHP Louisville
F25 Lindsay Chouinard LHP DePaul
M4 Jessica Holaway RHP Southern Miss
M11 Kerri Foster RHP UAB
M18 Felecia Gonzales RHP Southern Miss
M25 Corin Tassio RHP South Florida