LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (6-2) at No.24 MIDWESTERN STATE (7-1)
Saturday, December 13th - 6:00 PM                                      
D.L. Ligon Coliseum (Wichita Falls, Texas)
Radio: KJTV AM950/100.7FM                                                             
All-Time Series: MSU leads 21-5
Tweet #LCUvsMSU

CONFERENCE TUNE UP
Lubbock Christian University heads to Wichita Falls Saturday to face No.24 Midwestern State University in their final game before Heartland Conference play begins Dec. 18. LCU (6-2) heads into the contest looking for a season-long four-game win streak and they also look to push their road record to 3-0 on the season.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
Lubbock Christian University had three starters held scoreless, but received 54 points from their bench, including a career high 23 points from Allison Szabo, to defeat McMurry University 76-45 Saturday afternoon in nonconference play inside Rip Griffin Center.

Szabo nearly notched a Rip Griffin Center record in the win, going 9-for-9 from the field and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. The arena record is based on a 10 attempt minimum and the record is an 11-of-12 performance by Brittany Blackmon on Nov. 10, 2008. The 9-of-9 shooting performance was the best by any Lady Chaps member since Steve Gomez has served as LCU head coach (in his 12th season). Szabo produced her career-high totals in 26 minutes of work.

LCU received balance production outside of points. They assisted on 26 of 30 field goals, with eight players contributing at least one assist. Haley Burton (seven) and Kellyn Schneider (six) combined for 13 assists. LCU produced 11 blocks, with eight different players contributing at least one block. Tess Bruffey led LCU with four.

Only two of LCU's starting five players produced a point. Haley Fowler (10 points) and Bruffey (12 points) were the only Lady Chaps starters to produce offensively. The additional three starters went 0-of-14 from the field, meaning the team's remainder shot 68.1% (30/44) from the field. LCU's bench out-scored McMurry's bench 54-9, as the Lady Chaps bench accounted for 71% of the team's offense. Six of seven of LCU's reserves produced at least a point. Along with Szabo's career output, LCU's Bailey Haist matched a career high with four three-pointers and 14 points. Haist (4-of-6), Ashton Meeks (2-of-2) and Claire Bruffey (2-of-4) came off the bench to combine for 8-of-12 (66.7%) shooting from three-point range. The rest of the team was 0-of-9 from long range.

The game opened with a less than stellar opening four minutes, as the two teams combined to go 1-of-11 from the field, with Fowler producing the only bucket during the span. LCU would then knock down four consecutive shots and build an 11-0 lead with 14:27 left in the half. McMurry responded with a quick 7-0 run over the following two minutes to cut the LCU lead to 11-7. The War Hawks got as close as 13-11 with 9:46 remaining before LCU went on an 11-2 run to garner some breathing room. LCU outscored McMurry 25-9 over the final 10:14 of the first half for a 38-20 halftime lead. The Lady Chaps went on a 12-2 run early in the second half and never led by less than 21 points over the final 9:27.

The Lady Chaps shot 51.7% (15/29) in each half and was 30-of-58 in the game. They held McMurry to a 25% (16/64) shooting mark in the game.

McMurry fell to 1-8 with the loss. The War Hawks, playing their seventh road game of the season, received 13 points from Adijatu Disu and 11 points from Keesha Bracy in the loss. They also had a game high 10 rebounds from Mishae Roper.

STREAKS STILL STANDING
The Lady Chaps have been able to build several win streaks, going 31-3 since the start of last season. The Lady Chaps have won 17 consecutive road games and 23 consecutive conference games. The road streak is the longest active streak amongst NCAA Div. II programs. The last true road loss was on Nov. 16, 2013 (at Tarleton State). LCU's loss to open the season was a neutral site contest.

HOME RECORDINGS
LCU has set a program record in all four of their home games this season:

11/22 - LCU tied a Heartland Conference Record and set a Rip Griffin Center record with 14 blocks. Kellyn Schneider tied a program single-game record with eight blocks.

11/28 - Tess Bruffey broke the LCU single game record and tied a Heartland Conference single game mark with nine blocks.

11/29 - LCU set a program record in field goal shooting with a 69.2% (36/52) shooting mark from the field, which is also a Heartland Conference record.

12/6 - Allison Szabo had the best field goal percentage (of anyone with less than 10 shot attempts) in program history with a 9-of-9 shooting performance. The mark qualified to tie a Heartland Conference record, which had only been completed one other time.
 
BLOCKING IT OUT
The Lady Chaps are second amongst all NCAA Div. II programs with 72 blocks this season. Their pace of 9.0 per game ranks second behind Emporia State (10.9). Individually, Tess Bruffey (30) and Kellyn Schneider (28) and are both atop the Heartland Conference in blocks, with Callie Sandusky (6) also sits in the top-10 in the conference (sixth). Bruffey's 30 blocks ranks tied for third amongst NCAA Div. II leaders.

RANKED COMPETITION
Midwestern State is ranked No.24 in the D2SIDA National Poll, marking LCU's first ranked opponent this season. LCU has not faced a ranked foe since facing No. 6 (NAIA) Cumberland on Mar. 16, 2013 and has not faced a ranked NCAA program since facing No. 7 Metro State on the road Nov. 16, 2012. LCU went 7-3 that season against ranked foes, with a 2-0 mark against ranked NCAA programs.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
In their last game, LCU held McMurry to a 25% (16/64) shooting mark in the game. It marked the third consecutive game in which LCU has held an opponent to shoot less than 30%, which is the first time the Lady Chaps have completed the three-game task under Gomez's coaching tenure. They have held their opponents under 30% from the field in five of the last six games played. LCU's defense of holding opponents to a 32.7% shooting mark leads the conference and is tied for 14th when stacked against NCAA Div. II leaders. LCU's three-point defense is ninth in the conference (34.5%), but LCU has held opponents to a 31.8% shooting mark inside the perimeter.
 
GOOD FOWLS
In eight games this season, Haley Fowler has produced double figures in points in seven of the contests. The scoring consistency has her leading the team with 12.6 points per game. She has scored at least four field goals in six of the last seven games. Fowler has a 67.8% shooting percentage (21/31) over the prior four-game stretch.

CHARITY STRIPE SUCCESS
Prior to making the move to NCAA Division II, LCU was in the top-10 in the NAIA in free-throw shooting for eight consecutive seasons: 12/13 (1st), 11/12 (1st), 10/11 (9th), 09/10 (5th), 08/09 (2nd), 07/08 (1st), 06/07 (6th) and 05/06 (9th). Last season, LCU led the conference with a 78.1% shooting mark from the free-throw line, which ranked fifth in NCAA Division II. Hoppel set the program's single season free-throw shooting mark last season at 93.8%. It broke Nicole Hampton's mark of 92.4% from the 2011-2012 season.

ABOUT MSU
The Mustangs enter the contest with a 7-1 record and carry the No. 24 ranking in the D2SIDA National Poll. They are coming off a 70-66 win over Arkansas-Fort Smith to place them at 2-0 against Heartland Conference foes. The 7-1 record is their best eight-game start in program history and it is the fifth time they have completed the mark (first since 2012-2013). They are seeking an 8-1 start for the third time in program history to continue with the record pace. The all-senior starting five is led by Dianna Jones, who has double figures in seven of eight games and is coming off a career-high 20-point performance against UAFS.  Andrea Carter has five double-doubles this season and ranks 17th nationally in rebounds with a Lone Star Conference leading 12 per game. From outside, Lisa Hampton leads the conference and is 22nd nationally with a pace of 3.1 three-pointers per game. She has at least three three-pointers in each of her last five games.

THE SERIES AGAINST MSU
The Lady Chaps and MSU have met 26 times, but have not met since Feb. 12, 1994. LCU documents have MSU leading the all-time series 21-5 and MSU has MSU leading the series 20-6. There were some MSU forfeitures in the mix that has some of the documentation off. What is matching is the fact MSU has won 10 straight meetings heading into Saturday and LCU has not had a non-forfeit win in the series since Jan. 27, 1990. LCU is 0-13 all-time at Wichita Falls.

THE LAST MEETING AGAINST MSU
Feb. 12, 1994 (Wichita Falls, Texas) - LCU: 60 / MSU 92
Mindy Myers scored 20 points to lead the then-Lady Indians scoring surge to a 92-60 win over Lubbock Christian. Midwestern improved to 22-4 with the win by shooting 58 percent in the first half and taking a 58-27 lead at the break. Lynn Buckmaster (11 points) and Renae Josselet (10 points) also assisted in the MSU offense. MSU hit 12 three-pointers in the contest and forced LCU into 31 turnovers. Julie Baker and Kim Buchanan led LCU with 10 points each in the losing effort.