No.2/4 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (13-0, 5-0) at ROGERS STATE (8-4, 3-2)
Thursday, January 14 - 5:30 PM                                           
Claremore Expo Center (Claremore, Okla.)
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm             
All-Time Series: LCU leads 12-5
Tweet #LCUvsRSU

TO THE EAST
The Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals make their easternmost conference road trip of the season facing Rogers State in Claremore, Okla. Thursday and Arkansas - Fort Smith Saturday evening in Fort Smith, Ark. Both contests are Heartland Conference matchups. LCU leads the conference standings with a 5-0 conference mark (one game ahead of 5-1 St. Mary's). Rogers State and UAFS each enter the week 3-2 in conference for a share of fourth place in conference.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
A 15-0 run in the second quarter and 23 points in the opening half by Kelsey Hoppel allowed No.2/5 Lubbock Christian University to pull away from Oklahoma Christian 100-61 Saturday afternoon in a Heartland Conference tilt inside Rip Griffin Center.
 
LCU, who opened Thursday's win over Newman with a 21-0 run, opened Saturday's contest with a 13-0 run. Hoppel was responsible for 11 of the team's first 13 points in the opening 3:22 of play. LCU led 25-13 at the close of the first quarter and OC rallied with an 8-2 run to cut the Lady Chaps lead to 27-21. OC's Addy Clift produced 18 points in the first half and 12 came in the second quarter.  She produced a layup with 6:56 remaining in the half to move OC within 30-26. She later hit one of five first-half three-pointers with 4:38 to cut LCU's lead down to 36-31, but that is when LCU responded. LCU went on a 15-0 run in a span of 1:46 to take a 51-31 lead with 2:24 left in the half. Hoppel had seven points during the run and Nicole Hampton had six points in the stretch.  Sarah Parker knocked down one of seven three-pointers in the half for OC to end the run. LCU led 59-38 at the half.
 
The Lady Chaps opened the second half with a 12-0 run and a trio of the field goals in the second half surge came from Bruffey, who scored six points in a span of 56 seconds. LCU led 85-50 at the conclusion of the third quarter. A majority of reserves filled the hardwood in the final quarter. Olivia Robertson netted three of LCU's four field goals in the final quarter.
 
LCU shot 61.5% (16/26) from the field in the second half and held OC to a 26.5% (9/34) shooting mark in the second half.  Overall, LCU was 58.5% (38/65) from the field and OC was 32.3% (21/65). OC went from 7-of-14 (50%) from three-point range in the first half to a 0-of-11 long distance shooting woe in the second half (they missed their last 12 three-point attempts).
 
Hoppel was 11-of-14 (78.6%) from the field and tallied 25 points in 22 minutes of play. Hampton tallied 16 points and Bruffey scored 14 points to join Hoppel in double figures. Hoppel (11/14) and Hampton (6/7) combined to go 17-of-21 (81%) from the field. For the fourth time this season, LCU had at least 25 assists, as they recorded 25 assists highlighted by seven from Hampton and a career-high six assists from Hannah Harbin. LCU out-scored OC 50-22 in paint scoring and 28-18 in points off turnovers.
 
OC was led by a 21-point performance from Clift and 13 points from Parker. Clift scored 19 of her points in the first half (held to two free-throws in the second half) and Parker scored 12 of her 13 points in the opening half (held to a free-throw in the second half).

FOR STARTERS
LCU is 13-0 to start the season. It is their best start since opening the 2012-2013 season 16-0. They are one of six NCAA Div. II teams entering Thursday undefeated on the season.

MARGINS
LCU ranks second in the nation in average margin of victory at 29.7, behind only Alaska-Anchorage (31.5). LCU has outscored their opponents by at least 20 points in 12 of their 13 games this season.

CENTURY MARK
The Lady Chaps notched a season-high 100 points Saturday in their win over Oklahoma Christian. The feat was the first time they have notched 100 points this season. It marks the 14th time LCU has reached at least 100 points in a game under Steve Gomez's coaching tenure and it is the 23rd time overall in program history. The win marked the ninth consecutive win by LCU in the all-time series against Oklahoma Christian and the Lady Chaps have won 16 of the last 19 meetings.
 
AT THE HOP
Kelsey Hoppel had an impressive week last week in wins over Newman and Oklahoma Christian. Hoppel was 17-of-22 (77.3%) from the field overall and a perfect 13-of-13 inside the arc in a week she averaged 21 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. She totaled 42 points in 41 minutes of play, scoring 17 against Newman and 25 against OC. Hoppel was 9-of-9 inside the arc against Oklahoma Christian. With a pair of big-margin wins, Hoppel did not play much in the second half of each game and averaged 20 points in the first half in each game.

MOVING ON UP
The Lady Chaps moved up to No.4 in the latest WBCA Coaches Poll. It's their best ranking in the poll and they received four first-place votes. They remained No.2 in the D2SIDA Poll. Formula based Hero Sports (herosports.com) poll has LCU as the No.1 rated team in NCAA Div. II. In addition, NCAA.com power rankings have LCU No.8 nationally.    
 
PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES   
LCU is the only program in NCAA Div. II which ranks in the top-10 in field goal shooting (nation-best 50.5%) and field goal defense (4th at holding opponents to a 32.3% shooting mark).
           
MILESTONE WATCH
Tess Bruffey is eight blocks away from passing Candace Clenney and moving into third place on the program's all-time blocks list.

ZANY STAT LINE
LCU leads the nation in a bizarre statistic, as opponents are shooting 55.3 percent (105/190) from the free-throw line against the Lady Chaps this season. Fort Lewis shot 65% (13-20) from the line against LCU and it stood as the best shooting mark from the line by an LCU opponent until Oklahoma Christian was 70.6% (12/17). The best an opponent has done on the road from the line against LCU this season   (at least 10 attempts) was 31.3% (5-of-16) by CSU-Pueblo.   

TIME WARP
Since the NCAA adapted "quarters" this season, LCU had never trailed after any quarter of play until the first quarter Saturday Dec. 19 at St. Mary's. It ended a streak of 36 consecutive quarters in which LCU had led at the completion of the quarter. LCU has led 90.4% of their season through 13 games, with a total amount of time in the lead at 474:28 of their 525 minutes played this season. Their opponents have led a total of 25:12 (4.8%) this season. LCU has led throughout in six games this season and have trailed less than 40 seconds in 10 of their games.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT RSU
• The Hillcats are 8-4 overall on the season, 3-2 in conference and 6-0 at home. They enter Thursday looking to end a two-game losing streak after a 71-49 loss at St. Mary's Saturday.
• The Heartland Conference preseason polls had Newman preseason picked ninth in the conference.
• RSU and LCU are one of three Heartland Conference programs that were Sooner Athletic Conference foes. RSU is the only program in the conference not eligible for postseason play as part of their transition from NAIA to NCAA status.
• Natasha Kindred is RSU's only player averaging double figures in points (10.2) this season. She posted 20 points last Thursday at Texas A&M International.
• The best an RSU opponent has shot against them this season is 38.6% (St. Mary's Saturday) and the best an opponent has shot against RSU in Claremore is 37% (Texas-Permian Basin on Dec. 31, 2015).

THE SERIES AGAINST RSU
LCU has a 12-5 advantage in the all-time series after a 66-68 win in Claremore on Feb. 14, 2015. LCU swept the season series last season and has won eight of the last nine meetings (RSU has one win in the series since 2010-2011 season), including the last five. RSU's last win was a 78-70 win on Feb. 14, 2013. LCU is 5-3 all-time in Claremore.

PRIOR MEETING VS. RSU
Feb. 14, 2015 (Claremore, Okla.): LCU 66 - RSU 58
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.