No.1 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (18-0, 10-0) at OKLAHOMA CHRISTIAN (10-11, 7-4)
Thursday, February 4 - 5:30 PM                                                        
The Eagles' Nest (Oklahoma City)
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm
All-Time Series: OC leads 29-20
Tweet #LCUvsOC

STEADY THE COURSE
The No.1 Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals seek to remain perfect on the season, as they take an 18-0 overall record and a 10-0 Heartland Conference mark on the road for a pair of games this week, facing Oklahoma Christian Thursday in Oklahoma City and Newman Saturday in Wichita. LCU has a three-game lead over Texas A&M University in the conference standings.  

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
No.1 Lubbock Christian University used a 26-0 first quarter run and received points from 14 different players to produce their highest scoring total on the road this season with a 100-57 Heartland Conference victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State University Thursday night at Oscar Williams Field House.
 
Brittany Alavinejad opened the game with a three-pointer for the Aggies and LCU opened the game's first 1:17 without a point and missed their first two scoring chances.  Haley Fowler ended the Lady Chaparrals scoring silence with a three-pointer to tie the game at 3-3 and it jumpstarted a 26-0 scoring run over the next 5:36 for a commanding 26-3 lead. LCU scored on eight straight possessions and on 12 of 13 possessions during the run. The Lady Chaps benefited on offensive rebounds in the opening quarter, outscoring OPSU 14-0 in second chance points in the quarter. LCU led 34-11 heading into the second quarter.
 
LCU received points from 10 different players in the opening half. Tess Bruffey, Kelsey Hoppel and Fowler each had 10 points in the opening half, with Bruffey also grabbing five of the team's 13 offensive boards in the half. A 29-6 rebound advantage in the opening half led LCU to a 60-26 halftime lead. LCU had 13 offensive rebounds compared to four defensive rebounds for OPSU. It led to a 20-2 scoring advantage in second chance scoring for LCU in the half.
 
The Lady Chaps kept their distance in the second half and continued to build on their lead. LCU never led by less than 38 points over the final 13 minutes of the game.
 
LCU finished the game with 55 rebounds (22 offensive) for their highest rebound total of the season and the most since Feb. 21, 2015 (vs. Texas – Permian Basin). The Lady Chaps produced a season high in rebounds despite no individual player getting double figures in rebounds. Thirteen different Lady Chaps had at least one rebound (11 different players had at least one offensive board).
 
The rebounds led to LCU finishing the game with a 26-7 scoring advantage in second chance scoring. LCU dressed 15 players and 14 of the 15 produced at least a point in the game. Fowler and Hoppel each co-led LCU with 14 points. They were a pair of LCU's five double-figure performers.  Bailey Haist and Hampton each had 12 points and Bruffey finished with 11 points.
 
OPSU received a game-high 16 points from Tatyana Bell. The Aggies were 23 of 26 from the charity stripe (88.5%).  

FOR STARTERS
LCU is 18-0 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 28.5, behind only Alaska-Anchorage (29.8). LCU has outscored their opponents by at least 20 points in 15 of their 18 games this season.

HOT STARTS
Last Thursday's 26-0 run in the opening quarter at OPSU marked the fourth consecutive game in which LCU has had a lead of 10 or more points in the first quarter. LCU has had a lead of 10 points or more in the first quarter in seven of their last eight games (seven consecutive home games as well).

BLOCK PARTY
The Lady Chaps lead the nation in blocks per game with an average of 6.7 per game. Kellyn Schneider ranks 11th nationally in blocks per game (2.7) and is 12th nationally in total blocks (48). Teammate Tess Bruffey is not far behind, ranking 15th in blocks per game (2.3) and 24th in total blocks (41). Schneider's 48 blocks this season are ranking as the fourth highest single-season total in program history.
 
No.1 ACROSS THE BOARD
The new national rankings were released Tuesday and LCU remained 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. Two weeks ago marked LCU's debut at No.1 in the D2SIDA Poll and last week marked their debut at No.1 in the Coaches Poll. LCU is receiving eight of 15 first-place votes in the D2SIDA poll and 12 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 49.5%) and field goal defense (second at holding opponents to a 32.1% shooting mark).
           
MILESTONE WATCH
-Nicole Hampton, who set the program's career mark for rebounds on Jan. 23, followed setting the program record for career steals. She had four steals at OPSU to give her 273 career steals and it moved her past Sherry Brown, who had 271 career steals from 1979-83.
-Hampton has 1,523 career points and is seven points away from moving into fifth on the programs all-time scoring list (Darla Lynch had 1,529 points from 1979-83).
-Kelsey Hoppel is two 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 six 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 two wins shy of 300 career wins.

ZANY STAT LINE
LCU had led the NCAA most of the season in free-throw defense, as opponents were shooting poorly from the free-throw line. Through the first 12 games of the season, no LCU opponent had shot better than 65% from the line (with at least 10 attempts). In the prior six games it has changed, as LCU opponents have shot at least 70% from the line. Overall, opponents are shooting 61.7 percent (166/269) from the free-throw line against the Lady Chaps this season.

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 89.8% of their season through 18 games, with a total amount of time in the lead at 650:39 of their 725 minutes played this season. Their opponents have led a total of 43:28 (6.0%) 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 30-0 in Heartland Conference games. They have also been part of 33 consecutive conference wins. Their last loss in a conference game was Feb. 14, 2013 against Rogers State.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT OC
• The Lady Eagles are 10-11 overall on the season and 7-4 in conference to enter the week. They are coming in off a trip to Laredo, Texas, where they fell 66-57 in overtime Saturday, which ended a three-game win streak.
• The Heartland Conference preseason polls had OC preseason picked seventh in the conference.
• OC is 5-3 at home this season. They have won their prior two home games.
• McKenzie Stanford leads OC with 15.7 points per game and she is the two-time reigning Heartland Conference Player of the Week and has won the honor a conference high four times this season.
• The Lady Eagles lead the nation with 392 free-throws made this season. They rank 20th nationally in free-throw percentage (76.3%).   

THE SERIES AGAINST OC
OC leads the all-time series 29-20 dating back to 1979. Despite trailing the all-time series, LCU has won 16 of the last 19 meetings. The Lady Chaps have won the prior nine meetings, with OC's last win coming on Feb. 17, 2011. LCU has scored at least 100 points in three of the prior six encounters. Both teams are former Sooner Athletic Conference foes.

PRIOR MEETING VS. OC
Jan. 9, 2016 (Lubbock, Texas): LCU 100 - OC 67
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).