Parris Parmer scored 14 points, including the game-winning shot, for Hardin-Simmons on Saturday afternoon. Photo by Scott Burkhalter, Hardin-Simmons University

The Hardin-Simmons Cowgirls rallied past No. 13 Mary Hardin-Baylor and into first place in their half of the ASC while No. 12 Loras quieted the Storm and No. 16 Scranton avenged its earlier loss to Elizabethtown in Saturday's women's action.

• Saturday women's scoreboard
• Saturday men's scoreboard
• Baldwin Wallace's Harrer wins 600th game
• Friday: No. 1 Tufts beats No. 2 Bowdoin in D3's Maine event
• More women's headlines
• More men's headlines

For the second season in a row, Hardin-Simmons opened February with a win over ranked rival Mary Hardin-Baylor, this time beating the Crusaders 67-64. Midway through the fourth quarter, Brittany Schnabel's layup staked Hardin-Simmons to a 60-56 lead. Mary Hardin-Baylor went on an 8-1 run capped by Alicia Blackwell's three that put the Crusaders ahead, 64-61. Keile Burke knocked down a jumper to draw the Cowgirls within one and then, two possessions later, Parris Parmer scored a layup to put them in front, 65-64. Mary Hardin-Baylor came up empty on its next two possessions and Taylor Gaffney sunk two free throws for Hardin-Simmons to finish off the scoring.

With the win, Hardin-Simmons (15-4, 9-1) grabbed first place for itself in the ASC West, one game ahead of Mary Hardin-Baylor (15-4, 8-2 ASC). The Conference alternates hosting duties for the ASC tournament with the ASC East getting the rights this season. On that side of the conference, East Texas Baptist and Texas-Dallas remained tied for first with 9-1 ASC records after wins over LeTourneau and the University of Ozarks respectively.

No. 12 Loras dropped Simpson two games back in ARC standings by beating the Storm, 76-72. Riley Eckhart's three gave the Duhawks (18-2, 9-2 ARC) a four-point lead with under four minutes to play. Loras didn't make another field goal, but Kari Fitzpatrick drained four free throws in the final 10 seconds to seal the win. All five Loras starters scored double figures with Macenzie Kraemer tallying 17 points, five assists and five steals. 

Loras remains tied for first with No. 10 Wartburg which breezed past Central, 90-62, and Luther which topped Buena Vista, 80-65.

Ellie Wolkow hit the go-ahead shot for No. 17 St. Thomas and blocked the potential game-winning shot by No. 23 Gustavus Adolphus, and the Tommies held off the Gusties, 68-67. With the loss, Gustavus slips four games back of No. 5 Bethel in the MIAC standings with six to play. The Royals (19-0, 14-0 MIAC) punished Macalester 82-41 as Haylee Barker scored a career best 20 points. No. 19 Augsburg needed overtime to avoid a major slip against Carleton, as the Augies prevailed 97-90.

No. 16 Scranton downed Elizabethtown 61-48 to split the season series with the Blue Jays and pull itself into a tie for second with them in the Landmark Conference. Bridget Monaghan led the way for the Lady Royals (16-3, 6-2 Landmark) with 21 points and six rebounds. First-place Catholic converted 28 Moravian turnovers into 32 points in a 68-46 home win over the Greyhounds.

Less than 24 hours after beating No. 2 Bowdoin, top-ranked Tufts got off to a slow start before putting away Colby, 58-36. The Jumbos (20-0, 6-0 NESCAC) shot 2 for 15 and led 5-2 at the end of one period. Tufts founds its scoring touch from there and pulled away for a comfortable victory. The Jumbos' win coupled with Williams 83-76 victory over Trinity (Conn.) effectively gives Tufts a two-game lead on the rest of the conference with four to play.

No. 3 Hope used 15 players and all of them scored in the Flying Dutch's 104-39 rout of Kalamazoo. Olivia Voskuil had 13 points and five rebounds in 13 minutes for Hope (20-0, 11-0 MIAA), which played its second straight game without leading scorer Sydney Muller.

Outside the Top 25, Liv LeBaron led Buffalo State to a victory over SUNYAC leaders Cortland, 75-65. LeBaron, who entered the weekend ranked seventh in scoring (22.4 ppg), outdid her average by tallying 34 points and 13 rebounds against the Red Dragons. The Bengals improved to 12-6, 8-3 in conference.

On the other coast, SCIAC leader Redlands also stumbled and fell at Cal Lutheran where the Regals beat the Bulldogs, 71-54. Jozie Tangeman scored 19 for Cal Lutheran which dropped Redlands to 14-5, 9-1 in the SCIAC.

Montclair State shut down TCNJ 52-38 and extended its winning streak to 11 games. The Red Hawks remained tied for first in the NJAC with Rowan, which handled Ramapo 84-53. 

North Park followed up Wednesday night's win over Illinois Wesleyan with a dud at North Central (Ill.) where the Cardinals (9-10, 5-5 CCIW) beat the Vikings, 63-59.  Natali Dimitrova led all scorers with 17 points for North Central. Wheaton (Ill.) moved back within a game of North Park in the CCIW standings by beating Elmhurst, 63-60. Those two will play at North Park next Saturday.