No.4/12 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (9-0, 1-0) at ST. MARY'S (7-2, 1-0)
Saturday, December 19 - 1:00 PM                                   
Bill Greehey Arena (San Antonio, Texas)
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm    
All-Time Series: LCU leads 6-2
Tweet #LCUvsStMU
 
CLOSING THE OPENING HEARTFELT WEEK
The No.4/12 Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals completes their opening weekend of Heartland Conference play Saturday facing St. Mary's University. LCU has won their last nine games and is 3-0 in true road games.
 
LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
Kellyn Schneider led No.4/12 Lubbock Christian University with 16 points and teammate Nicole Hampton's double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) helped LCU out-shine Texas A&M International's Jessica Prieto and Keiona Mathews, who each had 24 points, and LCU opened Heartland Conference play with a 75-55 win Thursday night at United High School.
 
Schneider's 16 points were a season high and one point off matching her career high. She was 8-of-11 from the field and also added five assists and nine rebounds in 26 minutes of action.
 
The game was evenly played until midway through the first quarter, as LCU broke a 6-6 tie with a 6-0 run. Allison Szabo notched four straight points during the run and LCU led 13-8 at the end of the quarter. Szabo and Schneider opened the second quarter scoring pace for LCU, and a three-pointer by Blair Taylor highlighted a 7-2 run to open the quarter with a 20-10 lead. Kelsey Hoppel was 4-of-7 from three-point range in the game and was 2-of-3 in the first half. Her two long distance connections in the opening half came during a 10-2 run to close the half, providing the Lady Chaps with a 35-20 halftime lead.
 
Twenty-two of TAMIU's 55 points were recorded in the third quarter. The Dustdevils had nine field goals in the third quarter and all were produced by either Mathews (six) or Prieto (three).  Despite the increase of offense for TAMIU, they were unable to cut into LCU's lead. LCU never had their lead dip under a 14-point advantage in the quarter. The Lady Chaps were 59.3% (16/27) from the field in the second half and 7-for-11 in the third quarter (opened the quarter with four consecutive field goals).
 
TAMIU attempted a rally late in the third quarter with a 6-0 run, which carried into the fourth quarter and cut LCU's lead to 56-44, but LCU responded with a 9-0 run to jump the lead to 65-44 with 5:17 remaining. LCU had a 16-4 scoring advantage in points in the paint in the fourth quarter.
 
LCU was 53.7% (29/54) from the field and 9-of-11 (81.8%) from the line. Hampton produced her 35th career double-double and her third of the season. Hampton and Schneider were joined in double figures offensively by Hoppel (15 points) and Szabo (14 points). LCU outscored TAMIU 40-20 in points in the paint, 15-3 in points off turnovers and 25-0 in points off the bench. The Lady Chaps produced assists on 25 of 29 (86.2%) of their field goals. Haley Fowler produced a career-high seven assists.
 
The Dustdevils had productive performances by Prieto and Mathews, who combined for 48 of TAMIU's 55 points. TAMIU struggled from the free-throw line, going 3-for-9 (1-for-6 in the second half).
 
The win places LCU with a 9-0 overall record and puts them 1-0 in the conference for an 11th consecutive season. LCU is 3-0 all-time in Heartland Conference openers and 12-1 all-time under head coach Steve Gomez in conference openers. TAMIU falls to 3-6 overall and 0-1 in conference.
 
A scheduling conflict with TAMIU's on-campus facility led TAMIU to seek United High School's gym as an alternative venue.
 
BENCHING THE BENCH
LCU did not allow any points from the Dustdevils bench in Thursday's win. In the past two combined games, LCU has only allowed one point from the opposition's bench.
 
OPENING ACT
Thursday marked 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 now 3-0 in HC openers. They improved to 12-1 all-time in conference openers under head coach Steve Gomez. Thursday was their 11th consecutive conference openers.
 
OFF TO A GOOD START
LCU is 9-0 to start the season. It is their best start since opening the 2012-2013 season 16-0.  They are one of 14 teams entering Thursday 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.
 
DIALING IN   
LCU is the only program in NCAA Div. II which ranks in the top-10 in field goal shooting (entered Thursday ranked seventh at 48.1%) and field goal defense (sixth at holding opponents to a 32.6% shooting mark entering Thursday).
          
MILESTONE WATCH
-   Tess Bruffey, who has seven blocks in the prior two games, is 19 blocks away from passing Candace Clenney and moving into third place on the program's all-time blocks list.
 
-   Nicole Hampton is 12 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 10 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 51.8 percent (71/137) 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 StMU
• The Rattlers are 7-2 on the season and 4-0 at home. They defeated Oklahoma Panhandle State 90-65 Thursday.
• The Heartland Conference preseason polls had StMU preseason picked third in the conference.
• StMU had a six-game win streak until suffering a harsh 86-59 loss at Angelo State on Dec. 13. They have a six-game win streak at home carrying over from last season.
• Three Rattlers average double figures including Kiara Etheridge, who averages 16.1 points per game.
• Etheridge ranks in the top-10 in the nation in double-doubles with seven on the season. She averages 10.3 rebounds a game to go along with her point production.   
 
THE SERIES AGAINST StMU
LCU leads the all-times series 6-2 over StMU. They had won six straight in the series until falling in the prior meeting 67-59 on Feb. 26, 2015 in San Antonio. LCU is 3-1 against the Rattlers since joining the Heartland and 1-1 in San Antonio over that time.
 
PRIOR MEETING VS. StMU
Feb. 26, 2015 (San Antonio, Texas): LCU 59 - StMU 67
Morgan Pullins produced her 18th double-double of the season (24 points, 12 rebounds) and she helped St. Mary's end No.19 Lubbock Christian University's 13-game win streak, as the Lady Chaparrals fell 67-59 inside Bill Greehey in Heartland Conference action.
 
LCU fell behind early, trailing 14-7 six minutes into the contest, but they responded with a 9-0 run for a 16-14 lead. The lead would bounce back and forth, as the game had six lead changes in the first half and the score was tied on six occasions. LCU closed the half on a dry spell, as they did not have a field goal for the final 6:55 of the half and a 28-26 lead turned into a 30-29 halftime deficit.
 
The Lady Chaps would eventually go a span of 8:41 without a field goal, going 0-for-10 from the field during the scoring drought. After Bailey Haist's three-pointer ended the streak, they would go another 5:35 until their next field goal. In all, LCU had one field goal during a span of 13:06. By the time the second LCU field goal in the second half was scored, the Lady Chaps found themselves trailing 41-36 with 13:49 remaining. Kyra Littlejohn played a vital role for StMU in the second half. The guard entered the second half 4-for-37 (10.8%) on the season in three-point shooting (1-for-26, 3.8% in conference games), but she ended up going 2-for-2 in the half from three-point range and had all 14 of her points in the second half. She helped the Rattlers take a 55-45 lead with 5:33 remaining. Haley Burton helped the Lady Chaps attempt a late comeback. She hit a pair of late three-pointers, including the 200th of her LCU career (third Lady Chap to ever complete the task), and twice pulled LCU within a five point deficit. Burton had a chance to put the Lady Chaps within three points, going to the line with LCU trailing 63-58 (43 seconds remained), but she had one of seven missed second half free-throws by the Lady Chaps. Her made free-throw on the trip to the line cut LCU's deficit to 63-59 and it is as close as they would get.
 
Both teams were plagued by turnovers (each team had 13 in the second half and 21 in the game), with the Rattlers out-scoring LCU 22-12 in points off turnovers. LCU had 21 turnovers and 20 field goals, marking the fourth time this season LCU has had more turnovers than field goals made. LCU struggled from the line, going 57.1% (12/21) from the line in the game. St. Mary's, entering the game 29% from three-point range, was 6-of-13 (46.2%) in the contest.
 
Pullins was 10-of-18 from the field and ended with 24 points and 12 rebounds. She also had five steals. The conference's scoring leader was joined offensively by Dezirae Elias (16 points) and Littlejohn (14 points). Burton led LCU with 17 points, and also finishing in double figures in points for LCU was Tess Bruffey (12 points) and Haley Fowler (11 points).