NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - THIRD ROUND
No.9/No.11 WEST TEXAS A&M (28-4, No.3 Seed) vs. No.1 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (31-0, No.1 Seed)
Sunday, March 13, 2016 - 7:00 PM                                                  
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm                                   
All-Time Series: WT leads 1-0
Tweet #LCUvsWT

SWEET 16
Lubbock Christian University is a win away from claiming the South Central Region title and advancing to the Elite Eight, but standing in their way is West Texas A&M, who is making their third consecutive trip into the region title game. LCU, making their NCAA postseason debut this season, arrives to the title game after a 95-75 win over Texas Woman's University Thursday (first NCAA tournament win in program history) and a 101-72 win Friday over Angelo State. WT is the three-seed and was able to defeat Colorado-Colorado Springs (70-43) and Black Hills State (63-48) to arrive to face LCU. Sunday's winner garners an Elite Eight berth and a trip to Sioux Falls, S.D. to face the winner of Monday's Florida Southern vs. Benedict contest.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
Nicole Hampton produced a career high 12 assists and it was part of a double-double (12 points, 12 assists) that not only helped her become Lubbock Christian University's career assists leader, but it also helped top-ranked LCU defeat fourth-seeded Angelo State University 101-72 in the South Central Region of the NCAA Division II Tournament Friday night inside Rip Griffin Center. Hampton was one of six Lady Chaparrals in double figures in points.
 
The Lady Chaps scoring was sparked by 14 three-pointers, with Bailey Haist and Kelsey Hoppel combining for 10 three-pointers. Six different players had at least one three-pointer for LCU, who were 37.8% from long range (14/37).  Haist was 5-of-6 from the field, with all her attempts taken from downtown. The five three-pointers matched a career high for Haist.
 
Not only were the outside shots going in for LCU, but the inside shots were as well. LCU was 75.8 % (25/33) inside the arc in the game, going 12-of-15 (80%) in the second half inside the arc. They outscored ASU 40-20 inside the paint.
 
Hoppel led LCU's six double-figure performers with 17 points and also added a season high five assists. Tess Bruffey, with 10 points in the first quarter, and Haist finished with 15 points, and LCU also received 13 points from Haley Fowler and Allison Szabo and 12 points from Hampton, who was two rebounds shy of a triple-double.
 
The first quarter was the difference in the game. LCU opened the game on a 7-1 run (ASU's first field goal came 2:31 into the game) and followed with a 15-0 run to lead 22-5 with 2:03 left in the quarter. They held ASU to two field goals in the quarter for a 30-7 lead at quarter's end.
 
Haist helped cap a 58-point half with four three-pointers in the first half. LCU had eight three-pointers in the first half, while ASU was 0-for-8 in the half. LCU's bench outscored ASU's bench 42-10.
 
Hampton's 12 assists gave her 639 career assists, as she passed Sierra Lovorn, who had 633 assists from 2005-09. It was not her only milestone of the night, as her 12 points helped move her into fourth all-time on LCU's career scoring list with 1,719 points. She moved past Mamy N'Kolomoni, who had 1,715 points from 1998-02.
 
LCU improved to 31-0 with the victory and their 101 points marked the 17th time LCU has reached at least 100 points in a game under Steve Gomez's coaching tenure and it is the 26th time overall in program history.
 
Angelo State, who was led by a game high 23 points from Jasmine Prophet, had their season end at 23-8. They also received 17 points from Taylor Dorsey and 15 points from KeAnna Kelly.

FOR STARTERS
LCU is 31-0 this season and has yet to face a loss. It is their best start in program history, surpassing a 16-0 start from the 2012-2013 season. They are the only NCAA Div. II team undefeated on the season. Limestone had been undefeated until losing their first round game Friday.

MARGINS
LCU has the national lead in average margin of victory at 30.1. They have outscored their opponents by at least 20 points in 27 of their 31 games this season.

NATIONALLY KNOWN
LCU is ranked as the No.1 team by D2SIDA and by the WBCA/USA Today (Coaches Poll). 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 11 of 16 first-place votes in the D2SIDA poll and 18 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.

BLOCK PARTY
The Lady Chaps lead the nation in blocks per game with an average of 6.9 per game. They also lead in total blocks  (213). Kellyn Schneider ranks eighth nationally in blocks per game (2.6) and 11th in total blocks (82). Teammate Tess Bruffey is not far behind, ranking 22nd in blocks per game (2.3) and 19th in total blocks (70). Schneider's 82 blocks this season are ranking as the third highest single-season total in program history and Bruffey's 70 ranks as the fifth best single season mark.

REGION FIELD
The NCAA has a committee, which decided the eight-team field in the South Central Region. The winning team of the region advances to the Elite Eight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The region includes teams in the Heartland Conference, Lone Star Conference and Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.  The RMAC was the most represented conference with four teams.

1. Lubbock Christian
2. Colorado State - Pueblo
3. West Texas A&M
4. Angelo State
5. Colorado School of Mines
6. Colorado - Colorado Springs
7. Black Hills State
8. Texas Woman's University

PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES   
LCU is the only program in NCAA Div. II which ranks in the top-five in field goal shooting (leads at 51.5%) and field goal defense (second nationally holding opponents to a 32.3% shooting mark).

1,000/1,000   
Nicole Hampton had 12 rebounds last Sunday (tournament championship game) and it placed her at 1,000 career rebounds. LCU's career rebound leader is the only Lady Chaps member in program history with 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 points. Friday, she also became the program's career leader in assists (638), passing Sierra Lovorn, who had 633 assists from 2005-09. It was not her only milestone of the night, as her 12 points helped move her into fourth all-time on LCU's career scoring list with 1,719 points. She moved past Mamy N'Kolomoni, who had 1,715 points from 1998-02.
           
MILESTONE WATCH
-Nicole Hampton is seven points away from moving past Emily Pool (Atkins) (1,725 points from 2010-14) and into third all-time on LCU's career scoring list.

NATIONAL TOURNAMENT AT A GLANCE
LCU is the new kid on the block when it comes to NCAA postseason tournaments, but national tournaments are nothing new to the Lady Chaps. LCU's appearance this season marks LCU's 11th consecutive season in which they have qualified for a postseason national tournament when eligible. LCU made 10 appearances in the NAIA National Tournament and went 15-10 (all under head coach Steve Gomez).

TIME WARP
Since the NCAA adopted "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 91.0% of their season through 31 games, with a total amount of time in the lead at 1133:08 of their 1245 minutes played this season. Their opponents have led a total of 61:40 (5.0%) this season. LCU has led throughout in 13 games this season and have trailed less than 50 seconds in 20 of their games. Their current streak (entering Sunday) is 70 consecutive quarters completed with the lead.

THEY HAVE HEART-LAND
As active roster members, redshirt-seniors Nicole Hampton and Kelsey Hoppel completed a record of 38-0 in Heartland Conference games. They  were also part of 41 consecutive conference wins. Their last loss in a conference game was Feb. 14, 2013 against Rogers State. Toss in they also went 3-0 in Heartland Conference Tournament games.

ALL-CONFERENCE MEMBERS
Head Coach Steve Gomez claimed his third Coach of the Year honors and his first in the Heartland Conference. All five of his starters he has had throughout during the season all claimed Heartland Conference honors:

Nicole Hampton: First Team
Tess Bruffey: First Team
Kelsey Hoppel: Second Team
Kellyn Schneider: Honorable Mention
Haley Fowler: Honorable Mention

Conference Player of the Year: Nicole Hampton
Conference Defensive Player of the Year: Kellyn Schneider

ALL-TOURNAMENT
Nicole Hampton claimed Heartland Conference Tournament MVP honors with a tournament average of 15.3 points and nine rebounds in the tournament. Haley Fowler and Tess Bruffey also claimed All-Tournament honors. Fowler had a season-high 17 points in the tourney championship game and finished with a 13-point average in the tournament. Bruffey had a tournament average of 13.7 points.

FOWL PLAY
Haley Fowler has been on a recent tear offensively for the Lady Chaps. The senior has scored at least 10 points in the past five games and is averaging 17.3 points and 5.7 rebounds over the prior tthree games.

REGION TALK
LCU is led in the South Central Region by Haley Fowler, who  is averaging 17.5 points in the two region games. Nicole Hampton (15), Kelsey Hoppel (13.5), Tess Bruffey (13), Allison Szabo (11) and Bailey Haist (10) are all averaging double figures in points in the tournament. Hampton is also averaging 9.5 assists and 8.5 rebounds a game in the region tournament as well.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WT
• The Lady Buffs are 28-4 overall on the season and finished with a 13-3 conference record in the Lone Star Conference. They advanced to the NCAA postseason as an at-large after falling to Angelo State in the Lone Star Conference Tournament title.
• The LSC preseason polls had WT preseason picked first in the conference and they completed a regular season conference title.
• WT is making its 22nd NCAA Tournament appearance and third-straight after reaching the Elite Eight each of the last two seasons and the National Championship game in 2014.  WT is 10-2 in the last three NCAA Tournaments and are 32-21 all-time which ranks seventh-best in NCAA Division II Women's Basketball.
• Michaela Neuhaus (Lone Star Conference Academic Women's Basketball Player of the Year) and Sasha Watson were named Lone Star First Team All-Conference selections, and Zantaya Davis earned honorable mention honors.
• West Texas ranks 10th in NCAA Div. II in scoring defense (54.9) and tenth in steals on the season (364). Madison McLain (69), Neuhaus (60) and Watson (60) each have over 60 steals.

THE SERIES AGAINST WT
LCU and WT are seperated by 110 miles, but the two teams have only met one prior time. WT has a 1-0 series lead after meeting on Nov. 16, 2001 and defeating LCU 90-53. It was LCU's 2001-02 season opener.

PRIOR MEETING VS. ASU
Nov. 16, 2001 (Canyon, Texas): LCU 53 - WT 90
Four players scored in double figures as the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs jumped out to a 46-23 halftime lead and cruised the rest of the way, knocking off Lubbock Christian 90-53 at the Lady Buff TipOff Tournament at the WT Fieldhouse.

In their first game of the season, Val Wooten hit 5-of-11 field goals and scored a game-high 16 points, while teammate Stacey Byrd chipped in with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

In addition to Wooten and Byrd, Celeste Stevenson finished with 13 points and Cari Bigham had 10. Faith Boyd finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.

WT quickly jumped out to a 20-8 lead against Lubbock Christian on a bucket by Deatra Wheele, and controlled the rest of the game.

Lubbock Christian was led by Ginger Armacost with 11 points, while teammates Mamy N'Kolomoni and Dana Martinez had 10 points each.