NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - ELITE EIGHT - QUARTERFINALS
FLORIDA SOUTHERN (27-5, No.4 Seed) vs. No.1 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (32-0, No.1 Seed)
Tuesday, March 22, 2016 - Noon                                                   
Sanford Pentagon (Sioux Falls, S.D.)
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm   
All-Time Series: No Prior Meetings
Tweet #LCUvsFSC

ELITE TIMES
Lubbock Christian University heads to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, site of the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight, with quarterfinal and semifinal contests set to take place inside Sanford Pentagon. For top-ranked Lubbock Christian, they are set for a quarterfinal contest at noon Tuesday against Florida Southern. The winner is scheduled to play the Virginia Union vs. Bentley winner Wednesday at 6 p.m.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
Nicole Hampton produced a career high 12 assists and it Tess Bruffey scored 18 points in the first quarter and top-ranked Lubbock Christian University cruised to an 88-68 NCAA Div. II Tournament win over No.9/No.11 West Texas A&M in the South Central Region final at a sold out Rip Griffin Center. The win gave LCU their first region title.
 
Bruffey took the wind out of the Lady Buffs sails early with a big first quarter performance. She was 6-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from long range in the quarter. The third three-pointer came on a heave banked off the glass with time expiring on a 30-16 first quarter for LCU. The Lady Chaps went on a 15-3 run in the quarter.
 
The Lady Buffs went the first 4:41 of the second quarter without a field goal. The Lady Chaps built as much as a 50-25 lead in the half and took a 50-27 lead into the half. Bruffey matched a career high (22 points) and did it all in the first half.
 
LCU had a string of 10 consecutive field goals made in the second half. They were 70% (7-of-10) from the field in the fourth quarter and finished the second half 13-of-18 (72.2%) from the field. LCU led as much as 73-47 (7:59 remaining in the fourth quarter).
 
The Lady Chaps were 63.8% from the field in the game (30/47). Bruffey had the highest individual point total by a Lady Chaps member this season with 26 points (8-of-10 from the field). LCU also received 18 points from Nicole Hampton, 17 points from Kelsey Hoppel and 16 points from Haley Fowler.
 
Several milestones were achieved, as Fowler became the third active Lady Chaps member to eclipse 1,000 points in her LCU career (sitting with 1,002). Hampton, who had seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals, moved into third all-time on LCU's point list. She has 1,731 career points and moved past Emily Pool into third all-time.
 
LCU and WT are separated by 110 miles, but they had only met one prior time. The Lady Buffs (28-5) were unable to win the region for a third straight season despite 21 points from Sasha Watson. LCU's win over WT marked the Lady Buffs worst loss since a 79-51 loss to Southwestern Oklahoma State on Nov. 24, 2012.

FOR STARTERS
LCU is 32-0 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. The 32 wins marks a program single-season wins mark, topping their 31-win season (31-4) from 2012-2013.

MARGINS
LCU has the national lead in average margin of victory at 29.7. They have outscored their opponents by at least 20 points in 28 of their 32 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 (222). Kellyn Schneider ranks eighth nationally in blocks per game (2.9) and fifth in total blocks (86). Teammate Tess Bruffey is not far behind, ranking 21st in blocks per game (2.3) and 14th in total blocks (73). Schneider's 86 blocks this season are ranking as the third highest single-season total in program history and Bruffey's 70 blocks ranks as the fourth best single season mark.

ALL-AMERICANS
Nicole Hampton (First Team) and Tess Bruffey (Honorable Mention) have been named Division II Conference Commissioners Association 2016 Women's Basketball All-Americans.

Hampton leads the nation with a 3.60 assist/turnover ratio, ranks fifth in assists (198) and free-throw percentage (90.6%) and seventh in steals (96). If you based her numbers on playing a full 40 minutes per game, she would average 19.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, 8.3 assists and four steals per game. She has already claimed South Central Region Player of the Year, the Heartland Conference Player of the Year, the Heartland Conference Tournament MVP, CoSIDA Academic All-American and All-South Central Tournament Team honors. Hampton is LCU's career leader in rebounds, steals and assists and is third all-time in program scoring.

Bruffey averages 13.7 points and 2.3 blocks per game. She is coming off Most Outstanding Player honors at the South Central Region tournament. She ranks 14th nationally in blocks (73), 20th in field goal percentage (56.4%) and 21st in blocks per game (2.3). Bruffey, as a sophomore, is the lowest classificationed player as all recipients were either seniors or juniors.

Hampton becomes a three-time All-American, claiming the honor in all performing season, except her junior year, which she was not eligible for nomination due to LCU's transition to NCAA.

The honors are the first All-American honors recognizing on-court performance a Lady Chaps member has received since LCU started competing at the NCAA Div. II level. They had 18 NAIA All-Americans, with the last coming at the end of the 2012-13 season honoring Hampton and Kelsey Canavan. Fourteen of the honorees in the NAIA were under head coach Steve Gomez's guidance.

ELITE EIGHT FIELD
The winning team from eight different regionals makes up the Elite Eight field in Sioux Falls. LCU represents the South Central Region, as they hosted and won their regional tournament. Here are the winning teams, their seed from the region tournament and the region they represent to make up this year's Elite Eight field.

4 Florida Southern - South
1 Lubbock Christian - South Central
1 Virginia Union - Atlantic
1 Bentley - East
2 Alaska Anchorage - West
7 Francis Marion - Southeast
7 Grand Valley State - Midwest
2 Pittsburg State - Central

PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES   
LCU is the only program in NCAA Div. II which ranks in the top-five in field goal shooting (leads at 51.8%) and field goal defense (second nationally holding opponents to a 32.6% shooting mark).
           
MILESTONE WATCH
-Kellyn Schneider is a block away from 200 career blocks with LCU.  She can complete the mark in only two seasons with the Lady Chaps.
-Haley Fowler became the third active Lady Chaps member to eclipse 1,000 points in her LCU career (sitting with 1,002), eclipsing the mark in their South Central Region win over West Texas A&M.

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 91.2% of their season through 32 games, with a total amount of time in the lead at 1172:27 of their 1285 minutes played this season. Their opponents have led a total of 61:40 (4.8%) this season. LCU has led throughout in 14 games this season and have trailed less than 50 seconds in 21 of their games. Their current streak (entering Tuesday) is 74 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 (CONFERENCE)
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.

ALL-TOURNAMENT (SOUTH CENTRAL REGION)
Tess Bruffey claimed Most Outstanding Tournament honors at the South Central Region tournament averaging 17.3 points a game. She had a LCU season game high 26 points in the title game against West Texas A&M. She was 69.2% from the field and 5-of-10 from three-point range. Haley Fowler and Nicole Hampton also received All-Tournament Team honors. Fowler averaged 17 points shooting 69% from the field and Hampton averaged 16 points, 8.7 assists, 8 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT FSC
• The Moccasins are 27-5 on the season and completed play in the Sunshine State Conference with a 12-4 record (finished third in conference). They are 3-1 in neutral site games and combined 12-4 away from home. FSC is 2-1 against ranked teams this season.
• The SSC had FSC preseason picked seventh in the conference.
• The Mocs are making their 11 NCAA postseason appearance and their second Elite Eight appearance.
•  Jensen Blassage averaged 17 points a game during the South Region Tournament to claim All-Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. Shaquita Snow also earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Blassage was also a Second Team All-SSC selection behind First Team member Mariah Harris. Camille Giardina was the conference's Freshman of the Year and Betsy Harris was Co-Coach of the Year.
• FSC ranks seventh in the nation in free-throws made with 523 (Blassage ranks 11th nationally at the line, shooting 89.2%). They also rank ninth in three-point field goal percentage at 38.0 percent.

THE SERIES AGAINST FSC
LCU and FSC have never met. The Lady Chaps had never faced a Florida based team prior to this season. This will mark their second game against a Florida based school as LCU attended the Rollins Thanksgiving Classic in Winter Park, Fla. over the Thanksgiving holiday,  where they faced Rollins, who is a FSC foe in the Sunshine State Conference.  LCU defeated Rollins 66-38 (at Rollins) and FSC defeated Rollins three times this season (72-66, 74-50, 75-62). This game will mark LCU's first ever game on South Dakota soil.

PRIOR MEETING VS. FSC
No prior meetings.