ST. EDWARD'S (14-8, 8-6) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (19-5, 13-1)
Thursday, February 19 - 6:00 PM                                                    
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
TV: Fox 34 News Now                
Radio: KJTV AM950/100.7FM                
All-Time Series: Series Tied 4-4
Tweet #LCUvsSEU

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Lubbock Christian University returns home to the Rip Griffin Center Thursday to host St. Edward's University and Saturday hosting University of Texas of the Permian Basin for the final home games of the season. LCU enters the week with a 13-1 conference record (19-5) and has a magic number of "two" for a share of the conference regular season title and a magic number of "three" for sole possession of the conference regular season title. Meanwhile, SEU and UTPB are battling for one of four spots in the Heartland Conference Tournament.  If the conference tournament began today, SEU would be the No.2-seed and UTPB would be the No.3-seed. LCU enters the week on an 11-game win streak and a 10-2 home record.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
Kellyn Schneider was two block shy of a triple-double and Tess Bruffey produced 19 points, as the inside tandem helped Lubbock Christian University come back from a 10-point second half deficit and claim a 66-58 Heartland Conference road win over Rogers State University Saturday afternoon at Expo Center.

LCU trailed for more than half of the contest and a jumper by Mikaila Newton to open the second half had Rogers State with their largest lead of the game (40-30). The basket capped a 5-0 run carrying over from the first half, as Jade Hardy nailed a NBA-three pointer with time expiring to end the first half. LCU responded from Newton's field goal with a 10-0 run consisting of a pair of field goals by Haley Fowler and three-pointers from Haley Burton and Bailey Haist. LCU did not take the lead until Hannah Harbin knocked down a long-range shot for a 45-44 advantage with 11:14 remaining. Jalissa Felici, who had three three-pointers for RSU, hit her final one of the game to answer and regain the lead for RSU, but Haist also had a trio of long distance connections and her three-pointer that answered Felici's and regained the lead for good for LCU. Haist's three-pointer also started a 14-2 run to go up 59-49 with 4:03 left.

The Lady Chaps had a brief first half lead. They had an 8-0 run to go up 8-4 three minutes into the game, but RSU answered right back with an 8-0 run of their own. The Hillcats were 7-of-12 (58.3%) from long range in the first half and it helped them to a 38-30 halftime lead.

RSU had the seven first-half three-pointers and finished the game with 9 (9/20 – 45%). The Hillcats went from shooting 43.8% in the opening half to 22.6% in the second half. Meanwhile, LCU went from 40% shooting in the first half to 55% in the second half.

Bruffey finished with 19 points and was 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. She also contributed eight rebounds, four blocks, three assists and a pair of steals. Schneider, with her eighth double-double performance, also had a balanced afternoon. The junior had 13 rebounds, 11 points, eight blocks and four assists. LCU also received 12 points from Haist and 10 from Fowler. Newton led RSU with 14 points and they also received 13 points from Amari Jones and 11 from Felici. LCU produced 14 blocks in the game.

STREAK STILL STANDING
The Lady Chaps have had a lot of streaks over the past three seasons, as they have gone 75-10 since the start of the 2012-2013 season. One streak still remaining is a 23-game home conference win streak. Their last home loss in conference play was Jan. 10, 2013 against Oklahoma City University. They are 15-0 all-time in Heartland Conference home games.

REBOUND LADDER
Junior forward Kellyn Schneider enters the week with 256 rebounds (10.7 per game) and is 21 rebounds away from moving past Mamy N'Kolomoni for the fifth best single-season rebounds mark in program history. N'Kolomoni had 276 during the 2000-2001 season. Schneider ranks third in the conference in rebounding this season.
 
BLOCKING IT OUT    
The Lady Chaps lead all NCAA Div. II programs with 222 blocks this season. Their pace of 9.3 leads all NCAA Div. II programs as well. Individually, Kellyn Schneider (99) and Tess Bruffey (74) are both atop the Heartland Conference in blocks. Schneider's 99 blocks (already a Conference and program single season record) ranks tied for third amongst NCAA Div. II leaders and Bruffey ranks seventh. The two Lady Chaps marks already have them atop the single-season totals mark in program history, and they rank in the top five amongst LCU's career leaders as well.
    
READY, AIM, FIRE
Only three players in Heartland Conference are shooting 50% are better from the field this season. The top two are Lady Chaps, as Haley Fowler leads the Heartland Conference with a 59.8% shooting mark (7th among NCAA Div.II programs) and Allison Szabo ranking second with a percentage of 54.4% (25th nationally). Szabo, a sophomore from Merkel, Texas also leads the conference in free-throw shooting at 88.5% (21ast in the nation).

THREE-POINT SHOOTING
LCU leads the Heartland Conference in three-point field goal shooting with a mark of 35.9%. Individually, LCU leads the conference in individual field goal shooting, free-throw shooting and three-point shooting. Bailey Haist (43.9%) leads the conference (15th nationally) and Blair Taylor (43.3%) ranks third in the conference in three-point individual shooting percentage.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE
LCU has produced 16 double-double individual performances on the season, led by eight from Kellyn Schneider, who has recorded a double-double in the last two games and two of the prior three games entering the week. She has recorded the feat in seven of the team's 14 conference games played.

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. This season, LCU ranks fourth in the Heartland Conference from the charity stripe with a mark of 72.4%, but they do have the conference's leading shooter from the line (Allison Szabo, 88.5%).

ABOUT SEU
The Hilltoppers enter the week 8-6 in conference and 14-8 overall. They are coming off a 64-42 win over Texas A&M International, which ended a three-game losing streak. SEU is 4-6 in their last 10 games after opening the season 10-2. The 'Toppers are 5-4 on the road this season and have  lost their last two on the road. Their defense enters the week second in the conference, holding opponents to an average of 60.9 points per game. They lead the conference in free-throw shooting (74.1%) and three-point defense (26.8%). Mileka Loydrake leads SEU with an average of 14.5 points a game. Lubbock natives and Katy Boren (Lubbock Cooper) and Clarissa Elizondo (New Home) are local products on the SEU roster.  

THE SERIES AGAINST SEU
With three straight Heartland Conference wins over SEU, LCU has placed the all-time series tied at 4-4. Lubbock Christian won the prior meeting this season 73-60 (Jan. 24) in Austin, Texas. LCU won 90-66 on Mar. 1, 2014 in their prior meeting in Lubbock.

THE LAST MEETING AGAINST SEU
Jan. 24, 2015 (Austin, Texas) - LCU: 73 / SEU 60
Lubbock Christian University shot 80% (28/35) inside the arc, with Kellyn Schneider going 7-for-7 from the field to complete a 17-point 13-rebound double-double and Haley Fowler posting 25 points, and the career-high point totals for each of the Lady Chaparrals helped lead LCU to a 73-60 Heartland Conference road victory over St. Edward's University Saturday afternoon at Recreation and Convocation Center.

Schneider (7-for-7) and Tess Bruffey (6-for-6) combined for a 13-for-13 shooting performance. Mix in Fowler's 12-for-15 shooting mark in the game and the trio was 25-for-28 (89.2%) from the field. LCU had a 52-16 scoring advantage in paint scoring during the game.

Along with a career-high 17 points and her fifth double-double of the season, Schneider also contributed five assists and had four blocks, which led to some records being broken. The four blocks places Schneider with 74 blocks on the season, which sets a new program single-season record (was 71 held by Suzanne Copeland, 1990-91) and is a Heartland Conference single-season record.

Lubbock Christian opened the game 6-of-6 from the field and led 15-2 nearly seven minutes into the game. Ten LCU turnovers in the first half and eight offensive boards for SEU led to the Hilltoppers coming back from the 13-point deficit. The Hilltoppers went on a 13-2 run and tied the contest at 21-21 with 8:05 left in the first half. Fowler hit a pair of field goals and LCU quickly jumped out to a 27-21 lead before SEU would eventually rally to take a 30-29 lead with 3:38 remaining in the half. It was neck-and-neck in the final three minutes of the half and a layup by Fowler with four seconds remaining provided LCU a 36-34 lead at the break. LCU was 66.7% (14/21) from field in the half and 81% (13/16) from inside the arc. SEU had 13 more shots than LCU in the half.

Sydney Thomas made a layup for SEU for a 40-39 lead less than three minutes into the second half, but LCU answered back with an 8-0 run capped by a pair of Schneider buckets for a 46-39 LCU lead with 13:36 remaining in the game. LCU pulled away with 12 minutes to go, going on a 14-4 run to push the lead to 67-42 with under seven minutes remaining. The Lady Chaps led as much as 18 points (69-51) in the second half. They had a sequence late in the game making seven consecutive field goal attempts.

The Lady Chaps were 63% (29/46) from the field, but not all of their shooting marks were solid. LCU was 9.1% (1/11) from three-point range and 53.8% from the free-throw line (14/26). The one three-pointer, which was made by Blair Taylor, marked LCU's fewest three-pointers in a game since being held without one on Nov.5, 2011 against Metro State.

Fowler led all scorers with 25 points. She is averaging 23.5 points per game since returning to the LCU line-up from an injury. Bruffey joined Schneider and Fowler in double figures with 12 points. All 12 came in the second half.

LCU held SEU to shoot 36.1% (22/61) in the contest. They shot 25.9% (7/27) from the field in the second half. Lexi Fatheree, Mileka Loydrake and Aimee Durbidge each had 12 points for SEU in the losing effort.