No.1 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (17-0, 9-0) at OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE STATE (1-16, 0-9)
Thursday, January 28 - 5:30 PM                                       
Oscar Williams Field House (Goodwell, Okla.)
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm       
All-Time Series: LCU leads 23-21
Tweet #LCUvsOPSU

SHORT WEEK
The No.1 Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals have one game on the docket this week, hitting the road to Goodwell, Okla. Thursday to face Oklahoma Panhandle State. It marks the start of the second go-around facing Heartland Conference foes. LCU enters the week leading the conference with an unblemished 9-0 conference record. Oklahoma Christian, St. Mary's and Texas A&M International are each knotted up with a 6-3 conference mark for second place.  

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
No.1/2 Lubbock Christian University improved to a program best 17-0 start as they produced 28 points in the opening quarter en route to a 78-62 win over St. Edward's University Saturday afternoon inside Rip Griffin Center.
 
LCU, coming off a dreadful 1-of-15 performance from long range Thursday, opened Saturday's game with a three-pointer from Nicole Hampton on their opening possession. It led to a 17-2 run to open the game over the game's opening 4:12. Tess Bruffey had seven points during the LCU run and finished with 13 points in the quarter. Kelsey Hoppel hit two three-pointers in the opening quarter to give them a 22-5 lead with 4:46 remaining in the quarter. St. Edward's would come back with a trio of three-pointers by Lexi Fatheree to cut LCU's lead to 26-16 before the quarter would end with a 28-16 LCU lead.
 
The Lady Chaps produced six field goals in the second quarter and four were from downtown, with Bailey Haist and Blair Taylor adding to a pair hit by Hoppel. LCU led as much as 18 points (38-20) in the quarter and took a 44-28 lead into the locker room at the break. LCU produced 16 field goals in the opening half, with nine inside the arc and seven behind.
 
Lubbock Christian put the game out of reach in the third quarter with a 12-2 run, with seven of LCU's 12 points coming from the line.  LCU was 7-of-14 (50%) from the field in the third quarter and added 11 points from the line (11-of-14) in the quarter for a 26-point quarter. Eight different Lady Chaps had at least a point in the quarter and LCU took a 70-46 lead into the final frame.
 
LCU went the final 8:10 without a field goal in the game. They had one field goal in the quarter and it was tallied by Allea Harris (her first two-point field goal of the season). LCU scored their final six points of the game from the free-throw line.
 
Nicole Hampton finished the game with six rebounds and her final rebound came late in the fourth quarter, which was her 912th rebound to become the program's all-time career leader in the category. Hampton, who moved past Mamy N'Kolomoni (911 rebounds from 1998-02), finished the game with 15 points and eight assists to go with her six boards.
 
Hoppel led LCU with 16 points off a 5-of-7 three-point shooting performance. She also produced a game-high four steals. Hampton and Bruffey finished with 15 points. Shakera Barnes, who had a game-high 18 points, led SEU's offense. Fatheree finished with 14 points, with 12 scored in the opening half.  LCU out-scored the Hilltoppers 22-9 in points off turnovers and 22-7 in points from the free-throw line. SEU was whistled for 16 more fouls (26-10) than LCU.

FOR STARTERS
LCU is 17-0 to start the season. It is their best start in program  history, surpassing a 16-0 start from the 2012-2013 season. They are one of three NCAA Div. II teams entering Thursday undefeated on the season. The others are Ashland and Limestone.

MARGINS
LCU ranks second in the nation in average margin of victory at 27.6, behind only Alaska-Anchorage (30.6). LCU has outscored their opponents by at least 20 points in 14 of their 17 games this season.

BLOCK PARTY
The Lady Chaps lead the nation in blocks per game with an average of 6.6 per game. Kellyn Schneider ranks 10th nationally in blocks per game (2.7) and is 11th nationally in total blocks (45). Teammate Tess Bruffey is not far behind, ranking 15th in blocks per game (2.3) and 18th in total blocks (39).
 
HOT STARTS
Saturday against St. Edward's marked the seventh consecutive home game in which LCU has had a lead of 10 or more points in the first quarter. Overall, LCU has had a lead of 10 points or more in the first quarter in three consecutive games and in six of their last seven games..

No.1 ACROSS THE BOARD
The new national rankings were released Tuesday and LCU is No.1 by D2SIDA and 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. Last week marked LCU's debut at No.1 in the D2SIDA Poll and Tuesday marks their debut at No.1 in the Coaches Poll. LCU is receiving eight of 15 first-place votes in the D2SIDA poll and seven of 24 first-place votes in the Coaches Poll.  The D2SIDA poll 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 (third at 49.5%) and field goal defense (third at holding opponents to a 32.4% shooting mark).
           
MILESTONE WATCH
-Nicole Hampton collected six rebounds Saturday to garner her 912th career rebound to become the program's all-time career leader in the category. Hampton, moved past Mamy N'Kolomoni (911 rebounds from 1998-02).

-Hampton has 1,511 career points and is 19 points away from moving into fifth on the programs all-time scoring list (Darla Lynch had 1,529 points from 1979-83).

-Hampton is also three 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 eight three-point attempts away from moving into fourth on the all-time career three-point attempts list, moving her past Angie Taylor (534 from 1996-00).

-Hoppel is also seven 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.

-Head Coach Steve Gomez is three wins shy of 300 career wins.

ZANY STAT LINE
LCU second in the nation in a bizarre statistic, as opponents are shooting 58.8 percent (143/243) from the free-throw line against the Lady Chaps this season. They had led the nation in the category, but in the prior five games, LCU opponents have shot at least 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 89.4% of their season through 17 games, with a total amount of time in the lead at 612:35 of their 685 minutes played this season. Their opponents have led a total of 42:19 (6.2%) this season. LCU has led throughout in eight games this season and have trailed less than 40 seconds in 13 of their games.

THEY HAVE HEART-LAND
As active roster members, redshirt-seniors Nicole Hampton and Kelsey Hoppel are 29-0 in Heartland Conference games. They have also been part of 32 consecutive conference wins. Their last loss in a conference game was Feb. 14, 2013 against Rogers State.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT OPSU
• The Aggies are 1-16 overall on the season, 0-9 in conference and 1-8 at road. They enter Thursday looking to end an 11-game losing streak after a 62-59 loss at home to Texas - Permian Basin.
• The Heartland Conference preseason polls had OPSU preseason picked 10th in the conference.
• OPSU's game against LCU will mark their second game against a top-5 team this season at home. They fell 74-49 on Dec. 2, 2015 to West Texas A&M.
• Tatyana Bell is OPSU's only player averaging double figures offensively with an average of 15.9 points a game. She is averaging 20.7 points over the prior three games.
• OPSU ranks second in the conference with an average of 3.9 blocks per game.

THE SERIES AGAINST OPSU
The two programs have met 44 times all-time and this marks the second time ever the two teams have met with LCU leading the all-time series (23-21). The Lady Chaps have won 16 of the last 18 meetings. LCU swept the season series the last two seasons and have won six consecutive meetings. LCU won the prior meeting in Lubbock 96-51 on New Year's Eve. The last meeting in Goodwell, Okla. resulted in an 88-49 LCU win (Jan. 19, 2015).

PRIOR MEETING VS. OPSU
Dec. 31, 2015 (Lubbock, Texas): LCU 96 - OPSU 51
Lubbock Christian University totaled season-highs in points, rebounds and steals en route to a 96-51 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State behind Haley Fowler's season-high 18 points and Allison Szabo tying her career-high of 12 rebounds inside the Rip Griffin Center to move to 11-0 on the season and 3-0 in Heartland Conference play.

Sixteen of Fowler's game-high points came in the first half, including nine within the first five minutes of the contest. Szabo's dozen boards contributed to the season team-best of 49 and 10 Lady Chaps recorded at least one steal on the way to a season-high of 18. LCU (11-0, 3-0 Heartland) used their distinct height advantage to score 50 points in the paint and turned 25 Aggie mishaps into 30 points off of turnovers.

Fowler opened up the afternoon with a baseline drive and another score in the paint and Tess Bruffey added a field goal before OPSU (1-10, 0-3 Heartland) got on the board via a Brittany Alavinejad three-pointer. Bruffey hit a pair of free throws but Alavinejad came through with another shot from beyond the arc to close the game to within 8-6. Fowler again exploded for five successive points, and her teammates joined, as the Lady Chaps went on a 20-0 to extend the lead to 33-10 three minutes into the second quarter.

Bailey Haist entered the game midway through the period and compiled an and-one along with two free throws to up the score to 49-16. The Aggies scored four points in the final minute before the half prior to a Fowler free throw for a 30-point LCU advantage.

A three by Kelsey Hoppel in the third extended the lead to 62-22 for the Lady Chaps, and scores by Claire Bruffey and Olivia Robertson closed out the period with LCU ahead 74-31. After allowing the Aggies to put up 30 points during the first 30 minutes, OPSU managed to allot 20 points in the final 10 minutes despite the Lady Chaps earning their largest lead of the night at 93-42 following seven straight points from Claire Bruffey and a free throw by Antoinette Iroko.