LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (19-0, 11-0) at NEWMAN (10-10, 4-8)
Saturday, February 6 - 1:00 PM                                                    
Fugate Gymnasium (Wichita, Kan.)
Radio: Online Only    
All-Time Series: LCU leads 4-1
Tweet #LCUvsNU
 
CLOSING IT OUT
The No.1 Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals complete a three-game road trip Saturday in Wichita, Kan. facing Newman University. LCU's prior trip to Wichita (last season) resulted in their first ever Heartland Conference loss. LCU enters Saturday with a four-game lead atop the Heartland Conference standings. They have a magic number of "three" to clinch at least a share of the conference regular season title and a magic number of "four" to clinch the title outright. St. Mary's, Texas A&M International and Arkansas-Fort Smith are all tied for second with an 8-4 conference mark.
 
LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
Nicole Hampton had 19 points and 11 rebounds for her 36th career double-double and No.1 Lubbock Christian University improved to 19-0 on the season with an 87-59 road win at Oklahoma Christian University Thursday evening at The Eagles' Nest.
 
LCU never trailed in the contest and due in part to a fast offensive start for Hampton. She recorded 11 points in the opening quarter and helped LCU lead 21-16 in the opening quarter of play. OC opened the second quarter on a 5-0 run to tie the game 21-21, but LCU combated the Lady Eagles run with a three-pointer by Blair Taylor and a field goal by Hampton for a 5-0 run of their own. The run was extended with a trio of field goals by Tess Bruffey and developed into a 16-2 run for a 37-23 lead with 5:06 to go in the half. LCU opened the game 5-of-8 from three-point range to help pull away in the first half. They closed the half on a 5-0 run to lead 46-30 at the half.
 
Hampton nearly completed a double-double in the opening half, as she had 15 points and nine rebounds in the first half.  She also had five assists and was on pace for a triple-double. Hampton was able to climb the LCU all-time career scoring charts, as she surpassed Darla Lynch (1,529 points from 1979-1983) and moved into fifth all-time in career scoring.
 
The Lady Chaps were 54.3% (19/35) from the field in the first half and the shooting success carried over into the second half. Kellyn Schneider opened the second half with an old-fashioned three-point play and it helped the Lady Chaps to a 10-2 run to open the half for a 56-32 lead. They led as much as 29 points (71-42) in the third quarter.  OC cut LCU's lead to 71-49 in the third quarter, but LCU took any wind remaining in the Lady Eagles sails with a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter via a pair of field goals from Tess Bruffey and a three-pointer by Kelsey Hoppel.
 
LCU was 57.7% (15/26) from the field in the second half and finished the game 55.7% (34/61) from the field. The Lady Chaps dressed 14 players and 11 of them had a field goal in the game (eight of nine players that touched the floor in the opening half produced at least one field goal). Hampton led LCU with 19 points and the Lady Chaps also received 14 points from Hoppel and 13 points from Bruffey, who also finished with six rebounds, three blocks and a career-high five assists. Hampton was four assists shy (6) of a triple-double.
 
OC, who was 32.8% (22/67) from the field, received 22 points from McKenzie Stanford and 18 points from Sarah Parker. The Lady Eagles, falling to 10-12 overall and 7-5 in conference, was held to 4-of-19 (21.1%) from three-point range.  
 
FOR STARTERS
LCU is 19-0 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 Saturday undefeated on the season. The other is Limestone.
 
MARGINS
LCU ranks second in the nation in average margin of victory at 28.5, behind only Alaska-Anchorage (29.7). LCU has outscored their opponents by at least 20 points in 16 of their 19 games this season.
 
HOT STARTS
LCU has produced a lead of 10 points or more in the first quarter in four of their last five games and in seven of their last nine games (seven consecutive home games as well).
 
BLOCK PARTY
The Lady Chaps lead the nation in blocks per game with an average of 6.6 per game. Kellyn Schneider ranks 12th nationally in blocks per game (2.6) and is 12th nationally in total blocks (49). Teammate Tess Bruffey is not far behind, ranking 16th in blocks per game (2.3) and 21st in total blocks (44). Schneider's 49 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 49.9%) and field goal defense (second at holding opponents to a 32.1% shooting mark).
           
MILESTONE WATCH
-Hampton has 1,542 career points and moved into fifth on the programs all-time scoring list after 19 points Thursday at OPSU (Darla Lynch had 1,529 points from 1979-83).
-Kelsey Hoppel had six three-point attempts Thursday and moved fourth on the all-time career three-point attempts list (538). She moved past Angie Taylor, who had 534 from 1996-00.
-Hoppel is four 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 one win 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 seven games it has changed, as LCU opponents have shot at least 70% from the line. Overall, opponents are shooting 63.0 percent (177/281) 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 90.0% of their season through 19 games, with a total amount of time in the lead at 688:30 of their 765 minutes played this season. Their opponents have led a total of 43:28 (5.7%) this season. LCU has led throughout in nine games this season and have trailed less than 40 seconds in 14 of their games.
 
THEY HAVE HEART-LAND
As active roster members, redshirt-seniors Nicole Hampton and Kelsey Hoppel are 31-0 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 NU
• The Jets are 10-10 overall on the season, 4-8 in conference and 5-4 at home. They enter Saturday following a 63-43 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State, which ended a four-game losing skid.
• The Heartland Conference preseason polls had Newman preseason picked eighth in the conference.
• Bria DeGrate enters Saturday with double-figure performances in three of the team's four prior games. She was moved into a starting role and has led the Jets the prior two games with 17 points in each game.
• Newman is second in the conference (behind LCU) in scoring defense, holding opponents to 59.9 points per game on the season.
• Brianna Caldwell is second in the conference in three-point field goal attempts (147, 42nd nationally) and fourth in three-point field goals made per game (2.3, 92nd nationally).
 
THE SERIES AGAINST NU
The two programs have met five times and all as Heartland Conference foes. LCU leads the all-time series 4-1, with LCU claiming the first meeting of the season 87-42. The two teams split the series last season. LCU fell 52-46 on Jan. 8, 2015 in Wichita, Kan., but defeated the Jets in the latest meeting 60-33 (Feb. 7, 2015 in Lubbock).     
 
PRIOR MEETING VS. NU
Jan. 7, 2016 (Lubbock, Texas): LCU 87 - NU 42
No.2/5 Lubbock Christian University opened the game on a 21-0 run and never looked back to defeat Newman University 87-42 Thursday night in Heartland Conference action inside Rip Griffin Center.
 
The Lady Chaparrals offensive surge to open the game included LCU connecting on their first 10 shot attempts. Kelsey Hoppel who led all scorers with 17 points, had 11 points in the opening four minutes of the game. Her and Nicole Hampton, who had back-to-back three-pointers to close out the 21-0 run, combined for 19 of the 21 points to open the game. While LCU opened the game 10-of-10 from the field, it was a different start for the Jets. Newman missed their first seven shot attempts and committed five turnovers before Ashley Gonzalez ended the 21-0 run with a field goal with 4:11 remaining in the first quarter. LCU did not miss a field goal attempt until their 11th attempt, which came with 1:59 remaining in the quarter. LCU led 29-8 at the end of the opening quarter.
 
The Lady Chaps out-scored the Jets 10-0 in paint scoring in the second quarter and used a Bobbi Chitsey three-pointer at the horn to take a 53-19 lead into the locker room at halftime. LCU was 69.2% (18/26) from the field in the opening half and 5-for-9 (55.6%) from three-point range. Hoppel had all of her 17 points in the first half. Forty-six (46) of LCU's 53 points in the first half came from starters and no starter played more than 14 minutes in the first half. LCU produced 11 steals in the first half and held NU to a 19.4% shooting mark in the half, with only six field goals allowed (6/31).
 
LCU's bench saw most of the floor in the second half. The Lady Chaps played all 14 players in the game and no starter played more than 20 minutes in the game (no player played less than eight minutes). LCU still shot 42.9% (6-of-14) from three-point range in the half and led as much as 52 points on two occasions in the fourth quarter.
 
The Lady Chaps finished the game 51.8% (29/56) from the field and 47.8% (11/23) from long range. LCU assisted on 21 of their 29 field goals and had six assists from Kellyn Schneider, who matched a career high. Four Lady Chaps finished in double figures, with Hampton (15 points), Haley Fowler (12 points) and Tess Bruffey (12 points) joining Hoppel. Newman, who finished the game 25.8% from the field (16/62) did not have any player with more than nine points. Hoppel opened the game 2-of-2 from three-point range to jumpstart the LCU offense.