TEXAS-PERMIAN BASIN (4-13, 0-7) at No.1/2 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (15-0, 7-0)
Thursday, January 21 - 6:00 PM                                                     
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
TV: Fox 34 News Now                
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm               
All-Time Series: LCU leads 15-0
Tweet #LCUvsUTPB

CLOSING OUT ROUND ONE
The Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals face the only Heartland Conference teams they have yet to face this season this week, hosting Texas-Permian Basin Thursday and St. Edward's Saturday. LCU enters the week atop the conference standings with a 7-0 conference record. St. Mary's is the closest team behind them with a 6-2 conference record.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
Nicole Hampton supplied 20 points and Kellyn Schneider registered her first double-double (11 rebounds, 10 points) of the season to lead No.2/4 Lubbock Christian University to a 73-50 win over Arkansas – Fort Smith at a sold out Stubblefield Center.
 
LCU kept a crowd of 3,000 quiet early, as they opened the game with a 5-0 run started with a three-point play by Tess Bruffey. A little over five minutes into the game and LCU had a 15-5 advantage.  Hampton produced 13 points in the opening quarter (LCU led 22-8 at the end of the first quarter) and had 17 points 15:35 into the contest. UAFS never had 17 points as a team until 3:25 remained in the second quarter and LCU leading 36-17.
 
Hampton tallied 17 points in the first half and LCU led as much as 36-15 (21 points) in the half.  LCU was 57.7% from the field (15/26) in the first half ,with Haley Fowler contributing 10 points to join Hampton in double figures in the opening half. All of Fowler's points in the half came in the second quarter.
 
UAFS was never able to get within 16 points of LCU in the second half.  The two teams combined for six field goals in the third quarter, with LCU holding UAFS to two field goals. LCU led 55-36 heading into the final quarter. The Lady Chaps led as much as 28 points in the final quarter.  Kelsey Hoppel scored nine of her 12 points in the final quarter to help LCU cruise to the win.
 
LCU was 50% (26/52) from the field in the game and had a 42-22 scoring advantage in the paint. They held UAFS to a 28.8% (15/52) shooting mark in the game. LCU cruised despite 22 turnovers and a 53.5% (15/28) shooting percentage from the foul line. The Lady Chaps had a 49-25 advantage in rebounds.  They also assisted on 20 of 26 field goals and produced seven blocks.
 
Schneider produced her ninth career double-double and her first of the season with her 11 boards and 10 points. She joined Hampton (20 points), Fowler (14 points) and Hoppel (12 points) in double figures for LCU.  UAFS was led by former Frenship High School and South Plains College product Jasmine Brainard.
 
The game was nationally televised by American Sports Network, resulting in the Stubblefield Center's first-ever sellout.

FOR STARTERS
LCU is 15-0 to start the season. It is their best start since opening the 2012-2013 season 16-0. They are one of four NCAA Div. II teams entering Thursday undefeated on the season. The others are Ashland, Limestone and Missouri Western.

MARGINS
LCU ranks second in the nation in average margin of victory at 27.9, behind only Alaska-Anchorage (30.8). LCU has outscored their opponents by at least 20 points in 13 of their 15 games this season.

BLOCK PARTY
The Lady Chaps rank third nationally in blocks per game with an average of 6.1 per game. Armstrong St. leads the category at 6.4 blocks per game. Kellyn Schneider ranks 12th nationally in blocks per game (2.47) and is 16th nationally in total blocks (37). Teammate Tess Bruffey is not far behind, ranking 15th in blocks per game (2.27) and 22nd in total blocks (34).
 
HOT HAND HAMPTON
Nicole Hampton is coming off an impressive week with back-to-back 20+ point outings last week (she had one prior on the season). She posted 21 points at Rogers State, coming a rebound and two assists away from a triple-double, and then followed with 20 points against Arkansas-Fort Smith. She averaged 8.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 3.5 steals on the week.

MOVING ON UP
The new national rankings were released Tuesday LCU is No.1 by D2SIDA and No.2 by WBCA/USA Today (Coaches Poll). This season marks LCU's second season eligible in the D2SIDA poll and the first in the Coaches Poll. Each ranking is their best ever appearance in the ranking. The last human ranking to have LCU ranked No.1 was the NAIA Coaches Poll in the 2012-2013 season. The D2SIDA is voted on by sports information directors and the WBCA/USA Today is voted on by WBCA coaches.
 
PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES   
LCU is the only program in NCAA Div. II which ranks in the top-10 in field goal shooting (nation-best 50.1%) and field goal defense (4th at holding opponents to a 32.5% shooting mark).
           
MILESTONE WATCH
-Tess Bruffey is three blocks away from passing Candace Clenney and moving into third place on the program's all-time blocks list.
-Nicole Hampton is 11 rebounds away from becoming the program's all-time leader in rebounding at 912 rebounds to pass Mamy N'Kolomoni.
-Hampton is also eight steals away from passing Sherry Brown (1979-83) to become the program's all-time career steals leader. Brown had 271 career steals.
-Kelsey Hoppel is 17 three-point attempts away from moving into fourth on the all-time career three-point attempts list, moving her past Angie Taylor (1996-00).
-Hoppel is also 12 three-point field goals away from moving past Sierra Lovorn (234 from 2005-09) and into second place on the program's all-time career three-point list.

ZANY STAT LINE
LCU leads the nation in a bizarre statistic, as opponents are shooting 57.8 percent (129/223) from the free-throw line against the Lady Chaps this season. However in the prior three games, LCU opponents have shot better than 70% from the line.

TIME WARP
Since the NCAA adapted "quarters" this season, LCU had never trailed after any quarter of play until the first quarter on 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 88.3% of their season through 15 games, with a total amount of time in the lead at 534:28 of their 605 minutes played this season. Their opponents have led a total of 42:10 (7%) this season. LCU has led throughout in seven games this season and have trailed less than 40 seconds in 11 of their games.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT UTPB
• The Falcons are 4-12 overall on the season, 0-7 in conference and 0-4 on the road. They enter Thursday looking to end a seven-game losing streak after a 77-49 loss at Texas A&M International Saturday.
• The Heartland Conference preseason polls had UTPB preseason picked fifth in the conference.
• This is UTPB's final visit to Lubbock as a Heartland Conference foe. They will join the Lone Star Conference next season.
• Niniva Taito is the team's only player averaging double-figures, averaging 14.7 points per game. She is averaging 19 points a game over the prior three games.
• UTPB ranks 35th nationally in three-point field goal attempts with 380 attempts.

THE SERIES AGAINST UTPB
LCU is 15-0 all-time against the Falcons. The Lady Chaps won the prior meeting and the prior meeting in Lubbock (Feb. 22, 2014) 90-77.

PRIOR MEETING VS. UTPB
Feb. 21, 2015 (Lubbock, Texas): LCU 88 - UTPB 53
Senior Haley Burton (14 points, 10 assists) and Allison Szabo (12 points, 10 rebounds) each had a double-double and teammate Haley Fowler produced 20 points, as Lubbock Christian University had five players in double figures in points and defeated University of Texas of the Permian Basin 88-53 to clinch at least a share of the Heartland Conference Regular Season title on Senior Day inside Rip Griffin Center.
 
LCU never trailed in the contest, opening the game on a 5-0 run as part of a 12-3 run. UTPB pulled within five points on three occasions in the first half, but LCU closed the half making eight of their final nine shots of the half and out-scored UTPB 23-13 over the final five minutes for a 23-13 halftime lead. UTPB opened the game 1-of-15 from the field and 1-of-12 from three-point range (they would go onto to make four consecutive three-point field goal attempts to end the dry spell from long range). LCU, 6-of-9 from long range in the first half, had three players with at least 10 points in the half, led in the half by Burton's 12 points. UTPB had 14 of their 29 points in the half from Valerie Barriga.
 
Lubbock Christian University maintained a double-figure lead in the second half and held UTPB to 20% (7/35) shooting in the half. They put the game out of reach early in the half with a 15-2 run and never trailed by less than 30 points over the final nine minutes. Haley Fowler was 6-of-6 from the field in the second half and tallied 14 points in the half.
 
The Lady Chaps finished the game 8-of-12 (66.7%) from three-point range, with Bailey Haist going 3-for-3 from long range. She is a combined 8-for-8 from three-point range in the last two games. LCU out-scored UTPB 18-4 in second chance scoring, as LCU had a 55-39 rebound advantage. They also had 14 blocks, with Kellyn Schneider recording eight blocks (also had nine rebounds).
 
Fowler led LCU in scoring with her fifth 20-point performance of the season and of her LCU career. She was joined in double figures by teammates Burton (14 points), Szabo (12 points), Haist (11 points) and Tess Bruffey (11 points). Burton produced 10 assists for her fourth career double-double. LCU also received a career high six assists from Szabo, who completed her third career double-double. UTPB, who fell to 14-10 overall and 8-8 in conference, received a double-double from Barriga, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds.