ARKADELPHIA The Ouachita Baptist University Lady Tigers will play host to the Texas Woman's University Pioneers in a game on Friday night at 7 p.m. in OBU's Bill Vining Arena in the Roy and Christine Sturgis Physical Education Center.

The Pioneers from Fort Worth, TX have a record of 4-4 and are members of the South Division of the Lone Star Conference. Ouachita is off to an unblemished 7-0 record and lead the pack in the LSC North Division.

The Lady Tigers, under coach Garry Crowder and assistant Jason Jones, are ranked number one in the South Central Region in women's basketball in NCAA Division II. As of Tuesday morning, the Lady Tigers cracked the top 25 as the 25th team in the nation in Division II in the USA Today-Women's Basketball Coaches Association Poll. The high ranking came after the Lady Tigers were ranked 48th in the first regular season poll conducted last week by a national board of coaches. It is the highest ranking ever achieved by a Ouachita women's basketball team in a national NCAA poll.

On Friday night, the Lady Tigers will encounter a team that was ranked eighth in the Lone Star Conference's pre-season poll. The Pioneers, coached by Beth Palmer and assistant Bambi Ferguson, last won a narrow 70-69 home victory on Saturday over the St. Mary's University Lady Rattlers from San Antonio, TX. Ouachita and Texas Wesleyan have not played any common opponents.

Ouachita is being led in scoring this season by Jamie Scheppmann, a 5-10 senior guard from Cove (Van-Cove), who has compiled 145 points and is averaging 20.7 points a game in averaging 28.7 minutes of court action per contest. The Louisiana Tech University Lady Techster transfer also is shooting a torrid 62 of 67 for 93 percent from the charity stripe and leads the team in assists with 28. Scheppmann was named earlier this season as the LSC North Division Pre-Season Co-Player of the Year. Already this season, she has twice been named as LSC Player-of-the-Week.

The Lady Tigers also are receiving good post play from senior Jeannie Kennedy from Bryant who is averaging 7.7 rebounds and 10.1 points per game. Crowder's team is also showing its strength at the guard position where veteran point guard Robyn Anders, a sophomore from Grapevine,TX (Southlake Carroll), is averaging 11.4 points per game and has hit 35 of 38 from the free throw line. Her play is complimented by the outside shooting of Vivi Dees, a 5-8 sophomore guard from Vandervoort (Van-Cove), who is one of the leader's in the Lone Star Conference in three point field goals hitting on 14 of 30 for 47 percent

Crowder is also getting solid play from his forward position where 5-10 sophomore Tracy McBryde from Springtown, TX, 5-9 senior Corrie Gilliland from Paragould (Greene County Tech) and 5-10 sophomore Jennifer Edwards from Belcher, LA (Northwood HS-Shreveport) share the load. Gilliland is averaging 5.6 points a game, while Edwards is recording 6.9 per contest and McBryde is contributing 3.6 points. Between them 77 of Ouachita's 240 rebounds are on the statistics program.

The Lady Tiger bench was helped last week in the return to the roster of 5-8 sophomore forward Karen Rydell of Waldron. Rydell played in five games for the Lady Tigers last season. Ouachita's opponent on Friday night, the TWU Pioneers, are being led by Leslie Zachary, a 5-7 senior guard from Cooper, TX, who is pacing the Metroplex team with 97 points. She receives support from 5-11 junior forward Julie Murphy from Hawley, TX who has sunk 88 points and leads the team in rebounds with 50 caroms.