McMURRY (1-7) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (5-2)
Saturday, December 5th - 2:00 PM                                                  
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: KJTV AM950/100.7FM                                                             
All-Time Series: LCU leads 30-11
Tweet #LCUvsMCM

RETURN OF THE MC
Lubbock Christian University, winners of five of their last six games, returns home to host McMurry University Saturday at 2 p.m. inside Rip Griffin Center. LCU (5-2) is seeking their third straight win and it is their last nonconference home game before opening conference play Dec. 18.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
DENTON, Texas (December 3, 2014) – Allison Szabo recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and teammate Haley Fowler had a game high 16 points to help lead Lubbock Christian University to a 58-53 win over Texas Woman's University Wednesday night at Kitty Magee Arena to extend LCU's road win streak to 17 games, which leads all NCAA Div. II active road win streaks.

LCU used a 9-0 run midway through the first half to turn a 13-12 deficit into a 21-13 lead. TWU, who had a 9-4 lead early on, went on an offensive dry spell. After going on a string of hitting five of six shot attempts, the Pioneers went on a binge of missing 12 consecutive shots while LCU was on their run. They would end up closing the half and the opening shot of the second half going 3-of-21 (14.3 %). Combined with 10 turnovers on TWU (in the half), LCU led 29-21 at the break. TWU was held to a 26.7% (8/30) shooting mark in the first half.

The Lady Chaps were able to build the lead to 12 and led by the margin as late as with 8:30 remaining (46-34). Fowler was a big factor to the 12-point advantage, as she had 13 of her 16 points in the second half.  TWU would rally back late. After LCU's defense held TWU to a 2-of-12 shooting span midway through the second half, the Pioneers responded knocking down five of their next six attempts. It led to a 12-5 run, while their defense held LCU to three field goals in the final six minutes. TWU moved within 53-49 and had a free-throw attempt with 2:29 to go, but Kenesha Saygo's free-throw attempt was missed and LCU answered with an old-fashioned three-point play by Szabo to lead 56-49 with 2:11 to play. TWU never got within five points of LCU's lead the rest of the way.

TWU was unable to capitalize on second chance opportunities. The Pioneers, out-rebounding LCU 41-36, had 18 offensive rebounds, but only had seven points off second chance opportunities. LCU had a 26-18 scoring advantage in the paint and had nine blocks. Tess Bruffey produced five blocks and Kellyn Schneider had four. LCU was 41.3% (19/46) from the field and held TWU to 28.6% (18/63).

LCU improves to 5-2 on the season and they are 3-1 all-time against Texas Woman's University. It was their first win at Kitty Magee Arena and their first visit since Nov.1, 2010, which was Haley Burton's first game in a LCU uniform. TWU had their two-game win streak interrupted and they fall to 4-3.

STREAKS STILL STANDING
LCU had their 18-game home win streak snapped last Friday to Tarleton State in overtime (73-71), but they still have two other long win streaks in tact. 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 three 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.
 
BLOCKING IT OUT
The Lady Chaps are second amongst all NCAA Div. II programs with 62 blocks this season. Their pace of 8.9 per game ranks second behind Emporia State (10.4). Individually, Kellyn Schneider (27) and Tess Bruffey (26) are both atop the Heartland Conference in blocks, with Callie Sandusky (5) also in the top-10 in the conference. Schneider's 27 blocks ranks fourth amongst NCAA Div. II leaders.

D-III
McMurry, a former Heartland Conference opponent, withdrew their bid to move to NCAA Division II status and are returning back to NCAA Division III. The last time LCU played a NCAA Division III member was Nov. 21, 2006 facing Sul Ross State.

CONSTRUCTION ZONE
The Rip Griffin Center will look like a construction zone during their game with McMurry. LCU has partnered with Daktronics to upgrade LCU's basketball and volleyball facility. The north and south end scoreboards have been removed, along with the shot clocks. Shot clocks have been replaced and a new scoreboard has been  installed and is semi-functional at the north end for the Lady Chaps contest with McMurry.  Currently, a 25-foot-wide-by-eight-foot-high (25x8) LED video display is being is being constructed on the  south end. The video display will feature an HD video screen, real time statistics and a scoreboard.
 
BURTON BREAKS IN
With a three-pointer tallied Wednesday at Texas Woman's, Haley Burton moved ahead of Emily Pool for fifth place all-time in LCU career three-pointers with 173. She is nine away from tying Kelsey Hoppel's mark of 182.

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 McMURRY
The War Hawks enter Saturday's contest with a 1-7 record. They are seeking to end a six-game losing streak. Scheduling has not been on McMurry's side, as six of their seven contests have been scheduled on the road. In a week's span, McMurry went from playing in Denver to Belton, Texas and then back to Colorado to Grand Junction. Five of their seven games have been played on Colorado soil. William Milton is serving as the interim head coach and is in his first season in the role for the War Hawks.   The War Hawks have been held to 26 three-pointers this season (3.3 per game) and have allowed 63 three-pointers this season (7.9 per game). Taylor Neal leads McMurry with an average of 13.4 points per game.

THE SERIES AGAINST McMURRY
The Lady Chaps and McMurry have met 41 times, but only three times since 2001. The two teams were conference foes last season and LCU swept the season series. The last meeting came in Lubbock last season, with LCU defeating MCM 89-59 (Feb. 27, 2014). LCU leads the all-time series 30-11. MCM has not defeated LCU since Dec. 30, 1999. McMurry won the first seven meetings and LCU has gone 29-4 since then.

THE LAST MEETING AGAINST McMURRY
Feb. 27, 2014 (Lubbock, Texas) - LCU: 89/MCM: 59
Nicole Hampton was three assists shy of a triple-double and her double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds placed her as one of five Lady Chaparrals in double-figures in points, as Lubbock Christian University cruised past McMurry University 89-59 Thursday night inside Rip Griffin Center. The win not only extended LCU's win streak to 22 games, but the Heartland Conference win places them with a conference best 19-0 record.

Hampton produced 14 of her game high 18 points in the opening half and LCU never trailed in the contest. They scored the opening 10 points of the game and led 17-4 before the War Hawks countered with a 9-0 run to cut the LCU lead to 17-13 with 12:10 remaining in the first half. LCU shot a sluggish 39.4% (12/33) in the opening half, but they forced McMurry into 14 turnovers and outscored McMurry 21-6 in points off turnovers in the opening half of play. McMurry trailed 43-30 at the half despite shooting 52% (13/25) from the field in the half.

Any thoughts of a War Hawks comeback were quickly erased early in the second half. Haley Burton hit three treys in the second half and two came during a 12-2 run to start the half for a 55-33 lead four minutes into the half. They extended the lead to 69-40 with 11:24 to go and went to the bench to provide their reserves some playing time. Eleven of the 12 Lady Chaps that played produced a field goal and LCU received 17 points off their bench in the second half.

The Lady Chaps were 54.8% (17/31) from the field in the second half and finished the game 46.9% (30/64) from the field. McMurry was not far behind at 46.2% but they had 12 less shot attempts than LCU. LCU had a 28-16 scoring advantage in points off turnovers after forcing 21 turnovers and then benefitted off 15 offensive rebounds with a 15-3 scoring advantage in second chance points.

The two teams combined for 43 assists, as McMurry assisted on 19 of their 24 field goals and LCU assisted on 24 of their 30 field goals. Hampton led LCU with seven assists. LCU produced five players in double figures offensively, as Burton (14 points), Kelsey Hoppel (12 points), Emily Pool (12 points) and Kaycie Boyles (12 points) joined Hampton to balance the offense. Hampton's double-double was her seventh of the season and her 32nd of her career. McMurry was led by Keshia Collins, who had eight steals, six assists and six rebounds to go along with 16 points. She attempted 24 of the 52 McMurry shots (the 24 attempts is the most by an LCU opponent over the last four seasons of opponent records kept on file). McMurry also received 11 points from Sierra Maykus and 10 points from Nicolette Erkman.