COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES (2-3) at No. 11 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (0-2)
Friday, November 18, 2016 - 8 p.m.                                                
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: Online Only         
All-Time Series: LCU leads 1-0
Tweet #LCUvsCSM

HOME HARDWOOD
Lubbock Christian University returns home after opening the season last weekend going 0-2 at the Holiday Inn Cherry Creek Classic  hosted by Metro State of Denver. LCU's two losses give them their first 0-2 start under head coach Steve Gomez's tenure (14th season) and the first 0-2 start in program history since the 2001-2002 season. The No.11 Lady Chaps are hosting the Arbor Hotels Classic, with their home opener set for 8 p.m. Friday evening against Colorado School of Mines. They complete the weekend Saturday at 6 p.m. hosting Texas Permian Basin. LCU seeks to avoid their first 0-3 start since the 1987-88 season.

LOOKING BACK AT THEIR LAST CONTEST
Sophomores Olivia Robertson (20 points) and Bobbi Chitsey (17 points) each had career high performances, but it was not enough for No.4/11 Lubbock Christian University, as Colorado State – Pueblo overcame an eight-point fourth quarter deficit hitting five three-pointers in the quarter to rally for a 65-61 win in a neutral site contest part of the Holiday Inn Cherry Creek Classic hosted by Metropolitan State University of Denver Saturday night.
 
Trailing 48-40 through three quarters, CSU-Pueblo, who had been 4-of-17 (23.5%) from three-point range, opened the fourth quarter with a three-point field goal by Jaszymn Johnson. Taylor Long hit the first of two three-pointers in the quarter with 7:38 to go to cut the Thunderwolves deficit to 50-48 with 7:38 remaining, but the Lady Chaps responded, and a field goal by Robertson put LCU up 54-48 with 5:32 left. Over the ensuing 91 seconds, the game changed as Long, Katie Cunningham (her only three-pointer of the game) and Johnson combined to go 3-for-3 from long distance and the game was tied 57-57 with 3:06 left. CSU-P scored their final eight points from the free-throw line, as they were a perfect 8-for-8 from the line in the quarter. LCU was whistled for nine fouls in the fourth quarter, including a fifth foul called on Chitsey with 6:41 left, taking away a hot hand in the game from LCU. In the final 3:06, LCU was 2-of-7 from the field. They missed four consecutive field goal attempts as the score was tied 57-57 and as they trailed 57-59. The T-wolves made six field goals in the quarter and five were three-pointers.
 
CSU-P only led a span of 6:27 in the game. LCU had the lead for nearly three quarters of the game (29 minutes). LCU opened the game on a 7-0 run and was not phased after CSU-P answered with a 5-0 run, as the Lady Chaps used a three-pointer from Bailey Haist to regain the lead to a seven-point margin (16-9) to end the first quarter. Allison Szabo connected on a three-pointer with 6:53 left in the first half to build the lead to 21-11 before CSU-P went on an 8-0 run. They closed the half on a 7-2 run and Molly Rohrer layup with 11 seconds left in the half gave the Thunderwolves their first lead (29-28), which took the game into the halftime.
 
A pair of Thunderwolves three-pointers in the opening three minutes of the third quarter built their lead to 37-32, and LCU answered with some valuable minutes from Chitsey. LCU went on a 16-0 run over the next five minutes, with Chitsey hitting a pair of three-points and scoring eight of the 16 points. LCU led 48-37 at the run's conclusion and 37 seconds remained in the third quarter.
 
Robertson, whose prior career high was eight points, had a game-high 20 points on an 8-for-14 shooting performance. Chitsey scored her 17 points in just 13 minutes of play. She was 6-of-9 from the field. Haist finished with 11 points for LCU. CSU-P had four players in double figures, with Johnson leading the team with 15 points. Rohrer (14 points), Long (10 points) and Tuileisu (10 points) joined Johnson.
 
CSU-P outrebounded LCU 45-24 and produced 21 offensive rebounds. The 21 offensive rebounds was the most allowed since UA-Fort Smith had 26 on Feb. 12, 2015. The Thunderwolves did not necessarily take advantage of the offensive boards, it just hampered LCU's possessions/possession time. The Thunderwolves did not have a second chance scoring point until bringing down their 12th offensive rebound. CSU-P had 21 offensive rebounds compared to LCU's eight, yet LCU out-scored CSU-P 13-7 in second chance scoring.
 
The T-wolves closed the game 9-of-25 (36%) from long distance. They went 5-of-8 in the fourth quarter in the category. They were 88.9% from the line (16/18). LCU had an 18-9 advantage in forced turnovers, but only had a 15-13 scoring advantage in points off turnovers.
 
RING AND BANNER
Part of the opening weekend of home games for LCU includes the ring ceremony and banner reveal to commemorate the 2016 NCAA Division II National Championship the Lady Chaps claimed.  The festivities will take place Saturday prior to LCU's tip-off with Texas-Permian Basin. All members from last season's squad will be present except Tony Iroko, who is currently playing at Mary Hardin Baylor.

OPEN HOUSE
The Lady Chaps have won their home openers the prior four seasons.  Their  last  home  opening  loss  was  a  61-44  loss  to  
Metro  State  on  Nov.  5,  2011.  LCU  is  12-1  all-time  in  home openers under Steve Gomez.

SASSY SOPHOMORES
Sophomore's Bobbi Chitsey (11 points a game) and Olivia Robertson (14) are LCU's leading scorers through the opening weekend. They combined for 24 of LCU's 33 points in the second half of Saturday's loss to CSU-Pueblo, and that is with Chitsey limited to nine minutes in the second half. Chitsey fouling out disrupted the Lady Chaps scoring rhythm. She had all five of her fouls called against her in a span of 7:15, with three called against her in a 56-second span late in the third quarter. Chitsey, who was 3-of-8 all of last season from three-point range, opened this season making her first four three-point field goal attempts. She is now 7-for-13 (53.8%) in her career from long distance. Robertson has 28 points on the season, which is exactly half of her season total of 56 last season.

MILESTONES
- Tess Bruffey is 28 points shy of 800 in her career.
- Bailey Haist is three three-pointers shy of 100 in her LCU career.

UNBOUND
LCU has struggled in rebounds this season. They are averaging an allowance of 18.5 more rebounds to their opposition (44 per game) per game (LCU averaging 25.5 rebounds per game). Allison Szabo, who averaged 4.7 rebounds per game last season is leading LCU this season with 7.0 per game.

TURNING THINGS OVER
LCU has forced 32 turnovers, while committing 23. Hannah Harbin has seven assists and two turnovers for a 3.5 assist/turnover ratio on the season.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MINES
• The Orediggers is coming off a 21-7 record last season and grabbing Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship honors with a 19-3 conference record. Their 21 wins was a program single-season best.
• The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference preseason picked CSM second in the conference behind CSU-Pueblo.  
• Laura Tyree is a RMAC Preseason All-Conference selection. The point guard averages 12.6 points a game, ranking behind Elizabeth Tomon (13.4) on the Orediggers.
• Friday will mark CSM's first road game of the season. They went 10-1 on the road last season, winning their final three road games.
• The Orediggers were one of seven teams to join LCU in Lubbock for the South Central Region Championships last season. They lost 71-61 in their opening game, which was to Angelo State.

THE SERIES AGAINST MINES
The two teams have only one prior meeting and it came in Golden, Colo. on Nov. 15, 2014 in a 65--62 win, which was LCU's first win of the 2014-15 season.

PRIOR MEETING VS. MINES
Nov. 15, 2014 (Golden, Colo.): LCU 65 - CSM 62
LCU was able to overcome a cold shooting performance and Haley Fowler produced her first career double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds to help LCU claim their first victory of the season with a 65-62 win over Colorado School of Mines Saturday night (Nov. 15) at Lockridge Arena.
 
The Lady Chaps led 33-26 at the half and led as much as nine points (41-32) in the second half before CSM rallied back. The Orediggers were able to rally to tie the game at 51-51 with less than seven minutes to go. The game would be tied as late as 55-55 with 4:18 remaining, but LCU never allowed CSM regain the lead. Schneider and Haist each had their first field goal of the game inside the final five minutes and they came as part of a 6-0 LCU run for a 61-55 with 3:04 remaining.
 
The Lady Chaps, who faced a free-throw shooting discrepancy Friday night, was able to take advantage of the opportunity Saturday. LCU (21/30 from the line in the game) outscored CSM 21-6 from the line. Schneider was 6-for-6 from the line.
 
LCU had nine blocks in the game, with seven coming from Kellyn Schneider. She finished the game with 11 rebounds, eight points and seven blocks.
 
Haley Burton produced 14 points for LCU and was the only player to join Fowler in double figures for LCU. Fowler was 6-of-11 from the field for her 16 points and also had nine rebounds on the defensive end for 11 overall rebounds in the game. Callie Sandusky provided LCU a solid four minutes off the bench. She produced two steals, two points, a block, an assist and a rebound. Courtney Martin led CSM with 17 points.