ABILENE – Behind their fourth consecutive victory, 85-75 over the McMurry Lady War Hawks Thursday night, the Howard Payne Lady Jackets have vaulted to the top of the American Southwest Conference West Division women’s basketball standings.

The Lady Jackets (7-4, 4-1), by percentage points, lead No. 9 Hardin-Simmons (12-3, 7-2) in the race for the ASC West title.

Howard Payne will visit Hardin-Simmons – which on Thursday won its seventh straight game, 78-61 over Sul Ross – at 4 p.m. Saturday in a battle for the ASC West lead. Howard Payne traveled to Hardin-Simmons in a Dec. 5 non-conference game and dropped an 81-62 decision.

In HPU’s win over McMurry (0-13, 0-9) Thursday night, the Lady Jackets led 19-15 after one quarter, 37-29 at halftime and 59-49 through three quarters.

The Lady Jackets shot 46 percent (27 of 59) from the floor, 28 percent (7 of 25) from three-point land, and 65 percent (24 of 37) at the free throw line, where HPU owned a 9-point scoring edge. The Lady Jackets also owned a 42-37 advantage in rebounds and forced 18 turnovers that translated into 23 points.

Salina Ali poured in 20 points to pace Howard Payne trailed by 13 points each from Bria Neal, Lily Janek and Amanda Turpin. Chelsey Harris chipped in nine points followed by Delaney Ingram with eight, Kendra Brown with four, Mallory Garcia with three and Payge Grable with two points.

Harris led HPU in rebounds with seven while Ali dished out four assists and recorded five steals.

McMurry knocked down 43 percent (26 of 61) of its shots, 29 percent (8 of 28) of its treys, and 65 percent (15 of 23) of its free throws.

Aubrey Guerra led McMurry with 20 points followed by Sidney McHenry with 15, Trinity Meador with 13 and Destiny Mathews with 10.