NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
No. 3/6 ALASKA ANCHORAGE (38-2, No.2 Seed) vs. No.1 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (34-0, No.1 Seed)
Monday, April 4, 2016 - 2 p.m. (Central)                                                  
Bankers Life Fieldhouse (Indianapolis)
Online Video: None     
TV: CBS Sports Network (Ed Cohen, Debbie Antonelli)
Radio: KTTU 97.3 FM    
All-Time Series: No Prior Meetings

TITLE TIME
Lubbock Christian University is trying to complete the fairy tale story with a happy ending. Making the transition from the ranks of the NAIA to NCAA full membership in Division II, with no prior national championships, LCU is seeking to claim the program's first NCAA national title in their first season of eligibility. They also seek to go 35-0 and become the third team ever to go undefeated in claiming a NCAA Division II Championship. Only North Dakota State (32-0 in 1995) and Bentley (35-0 in 2014) have completed the task. LCU is 5-0 this NCAA postseason. After claiming wins over Texas Woman's, Angelo State and West Texas A&M in the South Central Region tournament, LCU went to Sioux Falls, S.D. and defeated Florida Southern and Bentley in the Elite Eight Tournament to earn a spot in the national title game against Alaska Anchorage. The West Region champions knocked off Francis Marion and Grand Valley State at the Elite Eight Tournament and head to Indianapolis, Ind. 38-2 on the season.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME
No.1 Lubbock Christian University benefitted off 14 steals and used a 14-4 second quarter run to punch their ticket to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship Game with a 67-57 win over Bentley University in the Elite Eight Tournament Semifinal Wednesday night inside Sanford Pentagon.
 
A defensive first quarter set the tone for the contest, as the first points of the game did not come until 3:39 into the contest off a Tess Bruffey field goal for LCU. The Lady Chaps led 8-3 heading into the first media timeout, but the long timeout interrupted their 4-0 run and Bentley responded by outscoring LCU 7-2 to tie the game 10-10 to end the quarter.
 
LCU found their offense in the second quarter, going 9-of-18 from the field and getting 13 points in the quarter from Kelsey Hoppel, who was 4-of-6 from the field in the quarter.  They opened the first 3:24 of the quarter with a 14-4 run and led Bentley 24-14. Hoppel highlighted the run with back-to-back three-pointers. The Lady Chaps outscored the Falcons 28-12 in the quarter and took a 38-22 lead into the half.
 
Despite shooting 50% in the second quarter, LCU hit a scoring drought late in the quarter, which carried into the second half. In a span of 10 minutes, LCU was 4-of-16 (25%) from the field. They closed the second quarter 1-of-8 and opened the third quarter 3-of-8 during the span. Despite the scoring fitfulness, LCU still managed to outscore Bentley 18-16 during the span. LCU was able to get back on track late in the third quarter converting on four straight field goal attempts (all four from different individuals, including Hampton, who was 3-of-3 from the field in the quarter).
 
LCU had their biggest lead at 58-36 with 8:44 to go in the game and Bentley made a late run with LCU slowing down the tempo to run clock. The Lady Chaps scored their final field goal with 4:15 remaining and scored their final five points from the free-throw line. Bentley outscored LCU 18-7 over the final 6:45 of the game.
 
Lubbock Christian University was held to their lowest shooting percentage in 19 games, going 43.1% (25/58) from the field. Their defense held Bentley to 37.3% (22/59) for the game. LCU was 51.1% (22/43) from inside the arc and had a 44-32 scoring advantage in the paint.
 
Hampton led LCU with 21 points and produced seven rebounds. Hoppel had a career high six steals to go along with her 20 points. Haley Fowler joined Hoppel and Hampton in double figures with 12 points. LCU's Blair Taylor had a career high four steals to help LCU produce 16 steals and outscore Bentley 17-6 in points off turnovers.
 
Bentley, whose season ends at 29-6, was led by Jenna Gemma. The All-American had a game high 25 points for the Falcons, who were making their NCAA Division II record 32nd national tournament appearance. Bentley is the winningest program in NCAA Division II with 1,006 program wins.

FOR STARTERS
LCU is 34-0 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 34 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 28.4. They have outscored their opponents by at least 20 points in 28 of their 34 games this season. LCU's win over Florida Southern (a four-point margin of victory on Mar. 22) was their slimmest margin of victory. LCU has had four third game decided by single digits and the five game decided by 15 or less points 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 6.7 per game. They also lead in total blocks (229). Kellyn Schneider ranks 10th nationally in blocks per game (2.7) and sixth in total blocks (86). Teammate Tess Bruffey is not far behind, ranking 20th in blocks per game (2.3) and 11th in total blocks (78). Schneider's 86 blocks this season are ranking tied as the second-highest single-season total in program history and Bruffey's 78 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 ranks second in the nation with a 3.26 assist/turnover ratio, ranks fourth in assists (202), 10th in free-throw percentage (89.5%) and seventh in steals (100). If you based her numbers on playing a full 40 minutes per game, she would average 19.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 7.8 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 points, rebounds, steals and assists.

Bruffey averages 13.6 points and 2.3 blocks per game. She is coming off Most Outstanding Player honors at the South Central Region tournament. She ranks 11th nationally in blocks (78), 22nd in field goal percentage (55.3%) and 20th in blocks per game (2.3). Bruffey, as a sophomore, is the lowest classificationed player as all recipients were either seniors or juniors.

Hampton became 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.

THE COACH
Lady Chaps head coach Steve Gomez is this season's recipient of the Pat Summitt Trophy presented to the 2016 United States Marine Corps/WBCA NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year. This marks the 34th year since 1983 that the WBCA has presented this honor to a NCAA Division II head coach.

Gomez, currently in his 13th season at Lubbock Christian, has guided the top-ranked Lady Chaparrals to a flawless 34-0 record, posting the program's first unbeaten regular-season record (26-0). Lubbock Christian also won its first Heartland Conference Tournament title. Gomez was named the Heartland Conference Coach of the Year for the first time, while earning his third overall Coach of the Year honor. On Feb. 6, Gomez earned his 300th win against Newman University. Since taking over at Lubbock Christian, Gomez has accumulated a 314-104 collegiate coaching record. The Lady Chaparrals went to NCAA Division II at the start of 2013-14 season and have a remarkable record of 80-8 since the transition.

PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES   
LCU is the only program in NCAA Div. II which ranks in the top-five in field goal shooting (leads at 51.4%) and field goal defense (second nationally holding opponents to a 33.2% 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.

-Nicole Hampton, with her 21 points against Bentley, became the program's all-time scoring leader with 1,774 points, passing 1,773 points scored by Beth Capps (1995-97).

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).

As far as semifinals and championship games in their program history, here is a rundown:

NAIA FAB FOUR HISTORY
2006 - Jackson, Tenn.
Mar. 20 - vs. Vanguard - W 69-59
Mar. 21 - vs. Union (Tenn.) - L 62-79

2012 - Frankfort, Kent.
Mar. 19 - vs. Oklahoma City - L 56-85

NCAA FINAL FOUR HISTORY
2016 - Sioux Falls, S.D.
Mar. 23 - vs. Bentley - W 67-57
2016 - Indianapolis, Ind.
Apr. 4 - vs. Alaska Anchorage -

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 34 games, with a total amount of time in the lead at 1243:04 of their 1365 minutes played this season. Their opponents have led a total of 62:26 (4.6%) this season. LCU has led throughout in 15 games this season and have trailed less than 50 seconds in 23 of their games. They have not trailed at the completion of 82 consecutive quarters.

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.

MORE ON THE HEARTLAND
LCU becomes the first Heartland Conference team since Drury in 2004 to reach the title game. Drury finished as the runner up to champion California (Pa.).

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 had throughout the regular 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 UAA*
• The Seawolves are 38-2 on the season and completed play in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 18-2 record. They are 10-0 in neutral site games and combined 22-1 away from home.
• The GNAC had Alaska Anchorage preseason picked first in their conference.
• UAA, their ninth NCAA Tournament berth in the past 10 years, is making its first appearance in the NCAA Div. II national title game after bowing out in the national semifinals in 2008 and 2009. The Seawolves are making their 15th overall NCAA Tournament trip this season. UAA is 21-14 all-time in NCAA games.
• The Seawolves have won more games (253) over the past decade (starting with 2006-07) than five other D-II women's programs (West Texas A&M, Clayton St., Holy Family, Delta St., Emporia St.).
• With their win over Grand Valley State at the Elite Eight Tournament, the Seawolves claimed the NCAA Div. II record for victories in a season, surpassing the 37 by Ashland in 2013 and Gannon in 2010. With its 41st contest now assured, UAA is also believed to own the new (old record not kept officially) D-II women's mark for games played in season. In addition to the two team marks, Jenna Buchanan has also set (or believed to have set) NCAA D-II women's single-season records for consecutive games with at least one three-point field goal made (35), most games started (40; soon to be 41) and games played (40; soon to be 41), along with Jessica Madison and Kiki Robertson.

THE SERIES AGAINST UAA
LCU and UAA have never met. The farthest northwest team LCU had met historically was British Columbia based Simon Fraser (current conference foe for UAA) on Nov. 26, 1998 (LCU fell 75-62).

PRIOR MEETING VS. UAA
No prior meetings.

WHERE TO FIND CBS SPORTS NETWORK IN LUBBOCK
NTS: 45 /  AT&T: 643 & 1643(HD) / DISH: 158 & 158 (HD) /
SUDDENLINK: 712 & 412(HD)

*Thanks to UAA Sports Information Department for their note contributions