No.4/12 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (8-0,0-0) at TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL (3-5,0-0)
Thursday, December 17 - 5:30 PM                                
United High School Gymnasium (Laredo, Texas)
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm     
All-Time Series: LCU leads 5-1
Tweet #LCUvsTAMIU

HAVE A LOT OF HEART
The Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals jump into Heartland Conference play with their conference opener Thursday in Laredo, Texas against Texas A&M International and continue conference play Saturday in San Antonio, Texas against St. Mary's to conclude their opening week of play in the Heartland Conference. LCU, the conference's only unbeaten team, enters conference play looking to end a two-game conference losing streak after ending last season with losses against the same teams they open conference play against this season.
 
LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
No.4/14 Lubbock Christian University set a program single-game record for three-point field goals with 17 treys and produced their most lopsided win in their all-time history with Oklahoma City University, defeating No.13 (NAIA) OCU 83-39 Thursday night inside Rip Griffin Center.
 
LCU took advantage of the defending NAIA champion Stars zone defense with a program single-game record 44 three-point attempts and hit 17 three-pointers. It topped their prior mark of 16 makes (Feb. 8, 2014 vs. Oklahoma Christian) and 33 attempts (done twice previously). Seven different Lady Chaps produced a three-point field goal, with Bailey Haist knocking down a career-high matching five three-pointers to finish with a team-leading 15 points. She was 5-of-9 from long range. The 44 attempts ranks tied for the sixth most attempts by a NCAA Div. II program this season and the 17 made three-pointers ranks tied for the fifth most in NCAA Div. II play this year and it ranks tied as the sixth most in Heartland Conference history.
 
The Lady Chaps were 14-of-26 from inside the arc (53.8%). Even with 17 three-pointers, LCU outscored the Stars 28-14 in paint scoring.
 
OCU opened the game's scoring with a 2-0 lead, but LCU responded with a 26-2 scoring run. The Lady Chaps led as much as 38-11 in the opening half and led 41-14 at the half. Haist produced 12 of her 15 points in the opening half. LCU went on to score 22 points in the third quarter and out-scored OCU 20-8 in the fourth quarter.
 
Lubbock Christian never had all five of their starters on the floor at the same time past the first media timeout of the game. No Lady Chap played more than 20 minutes. All 14  Lady Chaps dressed played and 13 figured into the offense. Along with Haist's 15 points, LCU received 14 from Nicole Hampton and 13 points from Tess Bruffey.  Hampton also had six rebounds and four steals in 19 minutes played. LCU produced 12 steals and forced OCU into 20 turnovers leading to a 29-5 scoring advantage in points off turnovers. LCU assisted on 26 of 31 field goals, with Hampton, Kelsey Hoppel and Blair Taylor each co-leading the team with four assists.
 
The Stars, who reported the game as an exhibition, suited out six players and they were led by Catherine Kruschke's game high 16 points. Allison Frey finished with 10 points to join her in double figures.  OCU was held to a 31.8% (14/44) shooting mark from the field.
 
The meeting was the 50th all-time meeting between the two programs and the 10th won by LCU. LCU's prior lopsided win in the series was an 88-66 win on Jan. 12, 2012.
 
The Lady Chaps improved to 8-0 with the win. They now head into Heartland Conference play and open with Texas A&M International in Laredo, Texas next Thursday.

MORE THREES THAN TWOS
Last Thursday in LCU's win over Oklahoma City, LCU produced more three-point field goals (17) than two-point field goals (14). The last time LCU had produced more three-point field goals than two-point field goals was Feb. 26, 2009 when LCU had 12 three-pointers and 11 two-point field goals in an 83-82 buzzer-beater win at University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma.

OPENING ACT
Thursday marks LCU's third Heartland Conference opener, after spending the prior 19 seasons in the Sooner Athletic Conference. The Lady Chaps went 11-8 all-time in SAC openers and are 2-0 in HC openers. They are 11-1 all-time in conference openers under head coach Steve Gomez. They have won their past 10 consecutive conference openers.

OFF TO A GOOD START
LCU is 8-0 to start the season. It is their best start since opening the 2012-2013 season 16-0.  They are one of 14 teams entering Wednesday undefeated on the season.
 
BOARDING UP
The Lady Chaps rank eighth in the nation in defensive rebounds per game with an average of 32 per game. Their season high was 44 against Eastern New Mexico.

MOVING ON UP
The Lady Chaps made the move up from No.14 to No.12 in the latest USA Today WBCA Coaches Poll. They remained No.4 in the D2SIDA Poll.    
 
PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES  
LCU is the only program in NCAA Div. II which ranks in the top-10 in field goal shooting (seventh at 48.1%) and field goal defense (sixth at holding opponents to a 32.6% shooting mark).
           
MILESTONE WATCH
-   Tess Bruffey, who has seven blocks in the prior two games, is 20 blocks away from passing Candace Clenney and moving into third place on the program's all-time blocks list.

-   Nicole Hampton is 16 free-throws made away from moving past Beth Capps (441... 1993-97) and into fifth place on the program's career free-throw list.

-   Kelsey Hoppel is 14 three-point field goal attempts from moving into fifth place on the program's career three-point field goal attempt list and past Brandi Grider, who had 495 attempts from 1995-99.

ZANY STAT LINE
LCU leads the nation in a bizarre statistic, as opponents are shooting 53.1 percent (68/128) from the free-throw line against the Lady Chaps this season. The best an opponent has done against LCU this season is Fort Lewis, who shot 65% (13-20) from the line against LCU.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TAMIU
• The Dustdevils are 3-5 overall on the season and 1-1 at home. They enter conference play on a two-game win streak after a 45-39 win over Texas A&M Kingsville.
• The Heartland Conference preseason polls had TAMIU preseason picked sixth in the conference.
• Due to a schedule conflict with their on-campus facility, TAMIU will host Thursday's game at Union High School.
• Keiona Mathews, who has posted at least 10 points in every game this season, leads TAMIU averaging 18.5 points per game. She has had at least 20 points in four of the past six games.
• Senior Jessica Prieto ranks sixth in the nation in average minutes played with an average of 37.9 minutes played per game.   

THE SERIES AGAINST TAMIU
LCU leads the all-times series 5-1 against TAMIU. They had won the first five in the series until falling in their prior meeting 68-60 Feb. 28, 2015 in Laredo. LCU is 3-1 against TAMIU since joining the Heartland Conference and 1-1 in Laredo in that span.

PRIOR MEETING VS. TAMIU
Feb. 28, 2015 (Laredo, Texas): LCU 60 - TAMIU 68
The Dustdevils upset No.19 LCU 68-60 in the Lady Chaps 2014-2015 season finale.
 
LCU jumped out early, taking a 10-2 lead, but things would go downhill from that point. TAMIU responded with an 8-0 run and tied the game 10-10. There would be three lead changes in the opening half. TAMIU, leading 23-22 with eight minutes remaining in the opening half, went on a 9-0 run, with Prieto connecting on five of the points. TAMIU used six three-pointers in the first half, going 6-for-13 (46.2%) from downtown for a 33-26 halftime lead.
 
Haley Fowler opened the second half with a layup for LCU, but TAMIU responded with a 6-0 runoff a pair of Prieto's six three-pointers in the game to take a 41-30 lead in the second half. LCU would go onto hold TAMIU scoreless on nine consecutive possessions and cut the deficit to 48-46 with nine minutes remaining. Burton knocked down a free-throw with 2:35 left to cut the deficit to 60-57, but LCU closed the game 1-for-5 from the field the rest of the game and was unable to clinch sole possession of first place in the Heartland Conference.
 
Prieto was solid for TAMIU. She became the third opposing player to score at least 30 points against LCU since the 2010 season. She was 11-of-24 from the field and 6-of-9 from three-point range. She also had five assists and three steals. TAMIU also received 10 points each from Keiona Mathews and Jessica Woo. TAMIU, closing the regular season 13-13 (9-9 in conference) was 11-of-22 (50%) from three-point range as a team (well above their team average of 29%). It marked the third time an LCU opponent knocked down at least 10 three-pointers against them this season (0-3 in those games).
 
Burton capped a solid LCU career with 21 points. Along with Burton's 21 points, LCU received 14 points from Fowler and 12 points from Kellyn Schneider, who was a rebound (9) shy of a double-double. Schneider recorded two blocks to finish the season with 113 blocks, which is a program and conference single-season record.  LCU was without head coach Steve Gomez Saturday, who was stranded in north Texas. He went to attend his son's high school basketball playoff game, but the winter storm affecting the area kept him from travelling back to rejoin the team.