LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (8-4, 2-0) at NEWMAN (3-9, 0-4)
Thursday, January 8 - 5:30 PM                                                       
Fugate Gymnasium (Wichita, Kan.)
Radio: KJTV AM950/100.7FM   
All-Time Series: LCU leads 2-0
Tweet #LCUvsNU

BACK TO HEARTLAND
Lubbock Christian University returns to Heartland Conference play Thursday opening up the week in Wichita, Kansas facing Newman University before heading to Oklahoma City Saturday afternoon for a tilt with Oklahoma Christian University. LCU is one of two teams in the Heartland Conference without a loss in conference play. They are 2-0 in conference and St. Edwards is 4-0, as the only teams with a flawless conference record. The Lady Chaps and Oklahoma Panhandle State are the only teams in the conference with less than three games played, as they had an earlier scheduled contest (Jan. 3) postponed until Jan. 19 in Goodwell, Okla.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
Lubbock Christian University had an 18-point lead and led for over 33 minutes, but they were unable to hold a ten-point lead with over three minutes remaining and fell 85-81 to NAIA No. 2 ranked Oklahoma City University New Year's Day inside Rip Griffin Center.

LCU led 79-69 with 3:05 left, but OCU closed the game on a 16-2 run. The Stars were 6-of-7 during the span from the field, while LCU was 1-of-5 with three turnovers down the stretch. The Lady Chaps lost the lead with 57 seconds remaining off a Marisha Wallace jumper. LCU had led since a Blair Taylor three pointer, which had put them up 15-12 with 14:48 left in the opening half.

Oklahoma City opened the game knocking down their first three three-point field goals and took a 12-6 lead three minutes into the contest. LCU did rally back and Taylor's three pointer was part of 30-6 run for LCU, which gave them their largest lead of the game (36-18) with 9:21 left in the first half. The Lady Chaps made 13 consecutive field goals during the run. They led 50-41 at halftime shooting 60.6% (20/33) from the field in the first half. They were 16-of-22 (72.7%) inside the perimeter.

Bailey Haist made a free-throw with 14:21 left in the second half for LCU's largest second half lead (57-45). They maintained the lead until OCU's late rally in the final three minutes.

Three players had double-double performances in the game. Wallace had 19 points and 10 rebounds for her double-double to lead OCU. Rateska Brown poured in 21 points, Yvonte Neal added 19 points and Ouleymatou Coulibaly scored 11 points to aid the Stars. LCU's Kellyn Schneider had 12 points and 12 rebounds in her second double-double of the season. Her 12 points tied a career high and she also matched a career high in blocks (8), coming two shy of a triple-double. Teammate Haley Burton had her third career double-double with 12 points and 10 assists. LCU had five players in double figures in points, with Haist (career high 15 points), Allison Szabo (15 points) and Taylor (13 points) each joining Burton and Schneider. LCU was without Haley Fowler, who missed the game due to an injury. The Lady Chaps produced 12 blocks in the game.

The contest was LCU's first game at home ever on New Year's Day and they are now 1-1 all-time on New Year's Day. The game was also LCU's first game against OCU since leaving the Sooner Athletic Confer-ence. LCU falls to 8-4 with the loss, while OCU improves to 7-1. It was the Stars seventh straight win.

STREAK STILL STANDING
The Lady Chaps have had a lot of streaks over the past three seasons, as they have gone 64-9 since the start of the 2012-2013 season. A few streaks continue and one that is the strongest is LCU's 25 consecu-tive conference wins, which leads all NCAA Div. II. LCU's last loss in conference play was back on Feb. 14, 2013 at Rogers State. Their last home loss in conference play was Jan. 10, 2010 (LCU has won 18 straight conference home games). Their road conference win streak stands at 12.

SASSY SOPHOMORES
Allison Szabo has double figures in points in seven of LCU's past nine games. Over the same span, she has a pair of double-doubles and has at least 10 rebounds in three of the contests. Fellow sophomore Bailey Haist is coming off a career high outing against Oklahoma City, as she posted 15 points. Haist has 16 three-pointers over the prior seven games and is 53.3% (16/30) from three-point range over the span.
 
BLOCKING IT OUT    
The Lady Chaps lead all NCAA Div. II programs with 111 blocks this season. Their pace of 9.3 per game ranks second behind Emporia State (9.6). Individually, Kellyn Schneider (46) and Tess Bruffey (45) are both atop the Heartland Conference in blocks. Schneider's 46 blocks ranks fourth amongst NCAA Div. II leaders and Bruffey ranks fifth. The two Lady Chaps marks already have them each in the top-five single-season totals in program history.
    
ON THE SCHNEID
Inside player Kellyn Schneider has at least 10 rebounds in each of LCU's conference games this season (two games). The last time LCU had a player with at least 10 rebounds in three consecutive conference games was Feb. 9-16, 2013, with Nicole Hampton producing at least rebounds in three straight confer-ence games. She also had a streak of four straight +10 rebound performances earlier that same season in conference play. Schneider is third in the conference with an average of 9.2 rebounds per game.

MORE ON BOARDS
LCU had only out-rebounded their opponent twice through their first nine games this season, but they have out-rebounded in each of their two conference games this season and in their last three consecutive games played. They had 29 more rebounds than Texas A&M International in their Dec. 18th meeting. That is the biggest advantage since a +33 advantage against Mid-America Christian on Jan. 12, 2013.
 
HELPING HAND
Haley Burton leads the Heartland Conference with 6.8 assists per game and a total of 82. The mark ranks her fifth nationally in total assists and sixth in assists per game. She also ranks second in the conference in assist/turnover ratio with a mark of 2.2.

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 sea-son. This season, LCU leads the Heartland Conference and is 17th nationally from the charity stripe with a mark of 76.1%. Allison Szabo leads the conference with a mark of 89.4% (42/47), which is 22nd nation-ally.

ABOUT NU
The Jets are one of four teams in the Heartland Conference still seeking their first conference win of the season. The 3-9 overall squad is 0-4 in conference play. They are without any players in double figures offensively and starving to end a six-game losing  streak dating back to Dec. 1. NU is 2-5 at home and are winless in their last three home tilts. Brianna Caldwell (33 three-pointers) and Keesha Buckner (33 steals) are the only players for NU listed in the top-three of statistical categories in the Heartland Confer-ence.      

THE SERIES AGAINST NU
LCU (2-0 all-time in the series) swept the season series last season. The first meeting was on Nov. 23, 2013 in Lubbock, and the game (LCU won 95-66) was LCU's first ever game against a Kansas based school. It was followed with LCU's first ever game on Kansas soil, with LCU defeating NU 73-68 in Wichi-ta (Mar. 2, 2014). The win for LCU in Wichita was Steve Gomez's 250th career coaching victory.

THE LAST MEETING AGAINST NU
Mar. 2, 2014 (Wichita, Kan.) - LCU: 73 / NU 68
Kelsey Hoppel buried five three-pointers in the second half and finished with a career-high 22 points to help Lubbock Christian University head coach Steve Gomez claim his 250th career LCU coaching victory in a 73-68 Heartland Conference road win over Newman University Thursday night at Fugate Gymnasium.

It was another game in which LCU had to overcome a sluggish start. For an eighth consecutive game, LCU found themselves trailing in the opening half. A 7-0 run to open the game caught LCU by surprise, but a trey by Hoppel and an old fashioned three-point play by Emily Pool helped the Lady Chaps climb back to eventually tie the game at 16-16 with 8:09 left in the half. The Jets surged again in the half, as Shekeira Copeland scored five of her 14 first half points during a 9-1 run to take a 25-17 lead with 4:58 to go before the break. LCU nearly had a chance to take the lead heading in the half. They went on 9-0 run for a 28-27 lead before Alexandra Ciabattoni hit a jumper at the horn to give the Jets a 29-28 halftime advantage. It marked the third time this season LCU has trailed at the break. The outside shooting was ugly in the half, as the two teams combined to go 2-of-15 from long range (LCU was 1-of-9 and Newman was 1-of-6).

The two teams would end up lighting it up from outside in the second half, and it got underway with Hoppel hitting a three-pointer 22-seconds into the half for a 31-29 LCU lead. Hoppel made five three-pointers in the opening eight minutes of the half. LCU's first four field goals of the half were treys from Hoppel and five of the first eight field goals over the eight minute span were Hoppel three-pointers. The outside-shooting display was not allowing the Lady Chaps to speed past the Jets, as NU answered two of the three-pointers and held LCU to a 51-47 lead with 11:42 remaining. Through the game's first 34 minutes, all six of the team's three-pointers were off the release of Hoppel. She was finally joined by Ha-ley Burton, who connected from long range with 5:49 to go for a 61-56 LCU lead. Cierra Tjaden answered Burton's trey with one of her own, and Newman had the hot-hand outside with Brianna Caldwell nailing a three-pointer with 3:56 to go to cut the Lady Chaps lead to 63-62. Late in the game, Kaycie Boyles took over for LCU to help preserve the lead. She had six field goals in the second half, with five coming in the final nine minutes over a seven minute span. Four of her field goals came with either the game tied or while the LCU lead was by two-points or less. With 3:23 remaining, she had a layup for a 65-62 lead and then followed with a layup with 2:06 left for a 70-64 lead. In the game's remainder, LCU scored their final three points from the free-throw line as Newman ended the game 1-of-4 from the field over the final two minutes. The teams combined for 12 three-pointers in the second half (7 by LCU) after combining for only two in the first half.

Hoppel ended the game with 17 points in the second half and her six three-pointers were one off match-ing a career high. Her career-high 22 points led the team and was a pair off a game-high 24 points from Ciabattoni. Pool and Boyles each notched 15 points and Burton finished with 11 points. LCU was 8-of-20 from three-point range, with Hoppel going 6-of-7. Burton was 2-of-3 from three-point range, placing the rest of the team a combined 0-of-10. LCU did benefit from a 26-9 advantage in free-throw attempts and a 39-32 advantage in rebounds. Pool and Haley Fowler each had nine rebounds for LCU, with Fowler's mark serving as a career best. LCU struggled from the free-throw line with a mark of 57.7% (15/26) from the line for only their second sub-70% shooting mark from the line this season. Ciabattoni was solid for NU with an 11-of-15 shooting performance from the field and nine rebounds to go along with her 24 points. Copeland, who had 14 in the first half, finished the game with 16 points.

The game was LCU's first game on Kansas soil in program history.