ARKANSAS - FORT SMITH (16-6, 9-4) at No.1/2 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (20-0, 12-0)
Thursday, February 11 - 6:00 PM                                                    
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
TV: Fox 34 News Now
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm                   
All-Time Series: LCU 5-0
Tweet #LCUvsUAFS

PRIZE IN SIGHT
The No.1/2 Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals are back home after a three-game road trip and host University of Arkansas - Fort Smith (Thursday at 6 p.m.) and Rogers State University (Saturday at 1 p.m.) for a pair of Heartland Conference contests. LCU is 20-0 overall and 12-0 in conference to lead the standings. A win Thursday, combined with a loss by Texas A&M International to Texas-Permian Basin, would allow LCU to clinch a second consecutive Heartland Conference regular season title. Both UAFS and TAMIU enter the week 9-4 and tied for second in the standings.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
Coaching in his 404th game, No.1 Lubbock Christian University women's basketball head coach Steve Gomez claimed his 300th coaching victory, as the Lady Chaparrals received 18 points from Tess Bruffey and a double-double from Nicole Hampton (17 points, 10 rebounds) en route to an 85-57 Heartland Conference win over Newman University at Fugate Gymnasium.
 
The Lady Chaps were prepared for the occasion on the road, as the team surprised Gomez in the locker room after the game with a cake and cupcakes.  The players and staff also surprised him with personal congratulatory letters. Gomez, in his 13th season, is 300-104 (74.3%) in his coaching career.
 
The team's focus was to revenge a loss in Wichita, from a season ago, and to reward their coach with his 300th win. They succeeded and it did not take long to jump out to a big lead. Kelsey Hoppel and Haley Fowler opened the game with three-pointers and LCU had the first eight points of the game. Newman cut the LCU lead to 10-5 but LCU responded with a 10-0 run and led 20-5 seven minutes into the game. They led 24-12 at the end of the opening quarter.
 
Hampton and Hoppel each had a trio of field goals in the second quarter and they each had 10 points in the opening half. Hoppel opened the second quarter with a three-pointer and it opened a 9-0 run to start the quarter. LCU was 13-of-20 (65%) shooting inside the arc in the first half and the pair of redshirt seniors combined for a 7-for-7 shooting mark in the half inside the perimeter. LCU led 48-27 at the half.
 
Bruffey had 15 of her 18 points in the second half, with 11 in the third quarter. LCU shot 56% (14-of-25) from the field in the second half, and that was with them missing four of their final five attempts in the game. They led as much as 85-48 (37 point lead with 2:42 remaining in the game) before Newman closed the game on a 9-0 run.
 
LCU was 52.5% (32/61) from the field in the game and held Newman to shoot 37.9% (22/58). Newman had 26 points from inside the arc and 27 points beyond the arc with nine three-point field goals made.
 
Each team had four players in double figures offensively. Hoppel (13 points) and Szabo (10 points) joined Hampton and Bruffey. Hampton's double-double was her fifth of the season and she has produced back-to-back double-double performances. She also had five assists and four steals. Newman's Natalia Hausmann led the team with 12 points. Iva Krstevska finished with 11 points and Bria DeGrate and Shaunice Robinson each finished with 10 points in the loss.

FOR STARTERS
LCU is 20-0 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 two NCAA Div. II teams entering Thursday undefeated on the season. The others is Limestone.

MARGINS
LCU ranks second in the nation in average margin of victory at 28.5, behind only Alaska-Anchorage (29.9). LCU has outscored their opponents by at least 20 points in 17 of their 20 games this season.

HOT STARTS
LCU has had a lead of 10 points or more in the first quarter in five of their last six games and eight of their last 10 games (seven consecutive home games as well).

BLOCK PARTY
The Lady Chaps lead the nation in blocks per game with an average of 6.5 per game. Kellyn Schneider ranks 13th nationally in blocks per game (2.6) and is 16th nationally in total blocks (51). Teammate Tess Bruffey is not far behind, ranking 16th in blocks per game (2.3) and 23rd in total blocks (46). Schneider's 51 blocks this season are ranking as the fourth highest single-season total in program history.
 
RANKINGS ROLLER COASTER
The new national rankings were released Tuesday and LCU remained No.1 by D2SIDA, but fell to No.2 WBCA/USA Today (Coaches Poll) after a two-week stay at No.1. This season marks LCU's second season eligible in the D2SIDA poll and the first in the Coaches Poll. Jan. 19 marked LCU's debut at No.1 in the D2SIDA Poll and Jan. 26 marked their debut at No.1 in the Coaches Poll. LCU is receiving 10 of 15 first-place votes in the D2SIDA poll and 13 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-five in field goal shooting (second at 50.0%) and field goal defense (second at holding opponents to a 32.4% shooting mark).
           
MILESTONE WATCH
-Nicole Hampton is three free-throws away from moving into fifth on LCU's all-time free-throw shooting list for made attempts. Currently in fifth is former Lady Chap Beth Caps, who had 441 from 1993-97.

-Tess Bruffey has 46 blocks this season and moved into fifth on LCU's single-season list.

-Kelsey Hoppel is 14 three-point attempts away from moving into third on the all-time career three-point attempts list, moving her past Haley Burton (559 from 1996-00).

-Hoppel is one three-point field goal away from moving past Sierra Lovorn (234 from 2005-09) and into sole possession of second place on the program's all-time career three-point list.

RECOGNITION
The Heartland Conference announced their weekly honors and Lubbock Christian University's Nicole Hampton was chosen as the Women's Basketball Player of the Week.
 
Hampton averaged 18 points and 10.5 rebounds on the week after completing her fourth and fifth double-doubles of the season. At Oklahoma Christian, she scored 19 points and collected 11 rebounds. She also had six assists. Hampton followed with 17 points and 10 rebounds at Newman, while also collecting five assists and four steals. She was 7-of-7 inside the perimeter at Newman. Overall, she averaged 5.5 assists and three steals on the week.
 
The honor is the second of the season for Hampton and the fourth in her LCU career. She was a two-time recipient in 2013-2014 as a junior. The Canyon, Texas native is the third Lady Chap to receive the honor this season. Tess Bruffey claimed the honor in Week 2 of the season.
 
Hampton ranks fourth nationally in assist/turnover ratio at 3.1, 12th in assist per game (5.7), 17th in steals per game (2.8), 23rd in assists (114) and 25th in free-throw percentage (87.1%). She leads the conference in the aforementioned categories except steals per game (second in the conference).

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 90.4% of their season through 20 games, with a total amount of time in the lead at 728:07 of their 805 minutes played this season. Their opponents have led a total of 43:28 (5.4%) this season. LCU has led throughout in 10 games this season and have trailed less than 40 seconds in 15 of their games. Their current streak (entering Thursday) is 26 consecutive quarters completed with the lead.

THEY HAVE HEART-LAND
As active roster members, redshirt-seniors Nicole Hampton and Kelsey Hoppel are 32-0 in Heartland Conference games. They have also been part of 35 consecutive conference wins. Their last loss in a conference game was Feb. 14, 2013 against Rogers State.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT UAFS
• The Lady Lions are 16-6 overall on the season and 9-4 in conference to enter the week. They are on a three-game road win streak and have won five straight overall following a 75-73 win at the buzzer against St. Mary's on Saturday.
• The Heartland Conference preseason polls had UAFS preseason picked second in the conference. UAFS and LCU shared the conference's regular season title last season.
• UAFS enters the week ranking seventh nationally in steals (271) and steals per game (12.3).
• Former Lubbock Roosevelt and South Plains College product Jasmine Brainard is the only UAFS player averaging double figures offensively, averaging 14.9 points per game. She had a streak of 15 consecutive games in double figures (points) end Saturday, as StMU held her to nine points.
• The Lady Lions three-point defense ranks third in the nation, holding opponents to a 24% shooting mark from outside.   

THE SERIES AGAINST UAFS
LCU has won all five all-time meetings and all meetings have been in Heartland Conference action. LCU is 2-0 all-time in Lubbock. The previous meeting in the series was Jan. 16, with LCU winning 73-50 in Fort Smith. The prior meeting in Lubbock was on Jan. 17, 2015, with Lubbock Christian winning 75-63.

PRIOR MEETING VS. UAFS
Jan. 16, 2016 (Fort Smith, Ark.): LCU 73 - UAFS 50
 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 Lubbock Roosevelt 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.