HEARTLAND CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT - SEMIFINALS
ST.MARY'S (18-9, No.5 Seed) vs. No.1 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (27-0, No.1 Seed)
Saturday, March 5, 2016 - Noon                               
Union Multipurpose Activities Center (Tulsa, Okla.)                           
Radio: Online Only    
All-Time Series: LCU leads 8-2
Tweet #LCUvsStMU

LOAD THE SEMIS
Lubbock Christian University won their first ever game in the Heartland Conference Tournament Thursday and advanced Saturday to face St. Mary's University with a trip to the conference championship game the reward. LCU defeated eighth-seeded Texas-Permian Basin while fifth-seeded St. Mary's upset fourth-seeded Oklahoma Christian 88-84 Thursday night.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
It was a game of milestones for top ranked and top seeded Lubbock Christian University Thursday afternoon in their first ever Heartland Conference postseason contest. The Lady Chaparrals received their 39th career double-double from Nicole Hampton (13 goals, 10 assists) and LCU opened play at the Heartland Conference Tournament with a 79-33 win over Texas-Permian Basin at John Q. Hammons Arena (UMAC). The win advances LCU from the Quarterfinals and places them into Saturday's Semifinals to face St. Mary's at noon.
 
Hampton hit a series of milestones early in the game, putting up her 1,000th career field goal attempt on her first shot of the game and also notching her 300th career steal on the first of five steals she recorded in the first half. She had six field goals in the game and her third moved her into fourth on LCU's career field goals list (moved past Carol Hise, who had 540 from 1990-94). Kelsey Hoppel connected on a pair of three pointers and sits with 73 on the season, which ranks as the fourth best single-season mark in program history and is two away from having the single-season program record.
 
The Lady Chaps had trouble getting into gear to start the game, falling behind 2-0 and being kept off the scoreboard for the first two minutes of the game. Once they did get on the scoreboard (Tess Bruffey layup), it was trouble for the Falcons. LCU went on an 11-0 run and led 11-2 with 5:54 remaining in the opening quarter. Six different Lady Chaps had at least a field goal in the opening quarter, including Blair Taylor, whose layup at the horn put LCU up 20-8 heading into the second quarter.
 
LCU's defense was solid in the second quarter. UTPB was held off the scoreboard for the first 5:17 of the quarter, going 0-of-5 from the field and committing five turnovers. They finished the quarter 2-of-9 (22.2%) from the field. LCU did go a span of 3:33 without a field goal (0-for-6 during the stretch), but were only outscored 4-1 during the dry spell. Led by a 10-point first half from Hoppel, LCU outscored UTPB 18-6 in the second quarter for a 38-14 halftime lead.
 
The Lady Chaps held UTPB under 10 points again in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Hampton had nine of her 13 points in the third quarter. LCU used a 13-3 run in the quarter and outscored UTPB 24-8 for a 62-22 lead to head into the fourth quarter.
 
Haley Fowler led LCU with five points in the fourth quarter, and Allison Szabo added four points to place both in double figures with 10 points. Niniva Taito scored all of UTPB's 11 points in the quarter and finished with a game-high 16 points.
 
LCU was 56.3% (27/48) from inside the arc in the game (49.3% overall from the field) and it led to a 52-6 scoring advantage in the paint for LCU. The Lady Chaps had a 20-10 advantage in turnovers and it led to a 24-4 advantage in points off turnovers. LCU produced 23 assists, with Hampton leading with six. Kellyn Schneider had eight points, eight rebounds and a game high five blocks (LCU had nine as a team).

FOR STARTERS
LCU is 27-0 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 one of two NCAA Div. II teams entering Thursday undefeated on the season. The other is Limestone.

MARGINS
LCU has the national lead in average margin of victory at 31.0. They have outscored their opponents by at least 20 points in 23 of their 27 games this season, and have a 37.6 average margin of victory over the past nine games.

BACK ON TOP
The new national rankings were released Tuesday and LCU remained No.1 by D2SIDA and in the WBCA/USA Today (Coaches Poll), and are the lone No.1 in the Coaches Poll, as Alaska-Anchorage lost last weekend. 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 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 7.1 per game. They also lead in total blocks  (191). Kellyn Schneider ranks eighth nationally in blocks per game (2.9) and in total blocks (77). Teammate Tess Bruffey is not far behind, ranking 21st in blocks per game (2.3) and 22nd in total blocks (61). Schneider's 77 blocks this season are ranking as the third highest single-season total in program history and Bruffey's 61 ranks as the fifth best single season mark.

REGIONAL RANKINGS
The NCAA released their third South Central Region regional rankings of the season Wednesday and LCU was ranked No.1 in the region.  The final regional rankings determine the eight-team regional field to open NCAA Div. II postseason play (following conference tournaments). The top team in the region receives hosting

1    Lubbock Christian
2    West Texas A&M
3    Colorado State - Pueblo
4    Colorado School of Mines
5    Black Hills State
6    Texas Woman's
7    Angelo State
8    Regis (Colorado)
9    Colorado - Colorado Springs
10    Arkansas - Fort Smith

PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES   
LCU is the only program in NCAA Div. II which ranks in the top-five in field goal shooting (leads at 51.2%) and field goal defense (second nationally holding opponents to a 31.9% shooting mark).

RATTLE AND ROLL   
Kelsey Hoppel has a team-leading 16 points per game average against StMU this season. She is one of four Lady Chaps that has averaged double figures in points against StMU in the two prior games. Nicole Hampton averages 12.5 points, 10 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 3.5 steals against StMU this season.
           
MILESTONE WATCH
-Nicole Hampton is 19 assists from passing Sierra Lovorn's program leading career assist mark of 633 from 2005-09.
-Kelsey Hoppel is two three-pointers away from setting the program single-season mark for three-pointers. The current top number is 74, which has been done three times.

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TIME
This is LCU's first ever season competing in a Heartland Conference and NCAA Division II postseason. They have not had any postseaaon history with the three remaining programs.

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 91.0% of their season through 27 games, with a total amount of time in the lead at 986:56 of their 1085 minutes played this season. Their opponents have led a total of 52:57 (4.9%) this season. LCU has led throughout in 11 games this season and have trailed less than 50 seconds in 18 of their games. Their current streak (entering Saturday) is 54 consecutive quarters completed with the lead.

THEY HAVE HEART-LAND
As active roster members, redshirt-seniors Nicole Hampton and Kelsey Hoppel went 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.

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

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT StMU
• The Rattlers are 18-9 on the season and they went 11-7 in conference to claim the fifth seed.
• The Heartland Conference preseason polls had StMU preseason picked third in the conference.
• StMU advanced to the semifinals after an 88-84 win over Oklahoma Christian Thursday night. Four Rattlers had double figures, including 21 points off the bench from Mariah Lee and 19 points from LaBraile Fields.
• Four Rattlers average double figures including Kiara Etheridge, who averages 13.7 points per game.
• Etheridge ranks 22nd in the nation in double-doubles, entering the week with 13 on the season. She averages  a conference-leading 9.6 rebounds a game to go along with her point production. She ranks 34th nationally with seven defensive rebounds per game average.   

THE SERIES AGAINST StMU
LCU leads the all-times series 8-2 over StMU. They have won eight of the last nine meetings, winning the season series opener 77-51 on Dec. 19, 2015 in San Antonio and also 77-47 Feb. 25 in Lubbock. LCU is 5-1 against the Rattlers since joining the Heartland.

PRIOR MEETING VS. StMU
Feb. 25, 2016 (Lubbock, Texas): LCU 77 - StMU 47
Kelsey Hoppel scored 17 points in the first half and top-ranked Lubbock Christian University used a 22-6 first quarter scoring advantage to defeat St. Mary's (Texas) 77-47 in Heartland Conference play Thursday night inside a crowded Rip Griffin Center.
 
LCU got off to a solid start, but it was generated around their defense. LCU scored the game's first 11 points while forcing StMU into six turnovers and 0-of-6 shooting in the opening 5:20 of the game. St. Mary's was 3-of-18 from the field in the opening quarter and held to two second-chance points despite seven offensive rebounds. Meanwhile, LCU was 50% (8-of-16) from the field in the opening quarter, with six different players tallying at least one field goal in the quarter.
 
Hoppel, who scored all of her game-high 17 points in the first half (only played six minutes in the second half), had 12 points in the second quarter and was 5-of-7 from the field in the quarter. Hoppel had more field goals in the first half (seven) as St. Mary's entire team had in the first half (five) and it led to a 44-16 halftime lead.  The Rattlers were just 2-of-14 (14.3%) in the second quarter for a 15.6% (5/32) mark in the first half. Dezirae Elias (0-of-8) and LaBraile Fields (0-of-5) were a combined 0-for-13 from the field in the half. LCU forced StMU into 15 turnovers in the half and had a 20-7 advantage in points off turnovers. The Lady Chaps also had a 22-4 scoring advantage in the paint in the half.
 
LCU opened the second half on a 10-3 run and jumped out to a 54-19 lead. Tess Bruffey hit four field goals in the third quarter and LCU used an 18-4 scoring advantage in the paint in the quarter to take a 64-28 lead into the fourth quarter. LCU led as much as 45 points (75-30 with 6:09 remaining) before Ciara Briseno knocked down three three-pointers and scored 12 of her team-leading 15 points in the fourth quarter. LCU committed 10 turnovers (nine from bench players) in the final quarter.
 
The Lady Chaps won by 30 points despite committing 21 turnovers, allowing 24 rebounds and being outrebounded for the third time this season. They did have the percentages in their favor, shooting 56.1% (32/57) in the game (65.2% in second half) and holding StMU to 24.3% from the field. LCU finished with a 44-14 scoring advantage in the paint.
 
Hoppel was one of three Lady Chaps in double figures, as LCU received 16 points from Bruffey and 10 points from Haley Fowler. Freshman Olivia Robertson was 4-of-4 from the field and matched a career high with eight points in just five minutes of game time. Along with Briseno, the Rattlers received 10 points each from Dezirae Elias and Kiara Etheridge, who also had a double-double with 11 rebounds.