LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (8-7, 3-1) at OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE STATE (1-12, 0-5)
Thursday, January 12, 2017 - 5:30 p.m.
Oscar Williams Field House (Goodwell, Okla.)
Radio: KJTV am950/100.7fm   
All-Time Series: LCU leads 24-21
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Lubbock Christian University had their streak of 39 days away from home end last Thursday, but did not have time to unpack their bags, as they return to the road for a pair of Heartland Conference contests. Thursday, LCU opens their northern swing with a stop in Goodwell, Okla. to face Oklahoma Panhandle State, before continuing on Saturday to face Newman in Wichita, Kan. LCU enters the week in third place in the Heartland Conference, with a 3-1 mark in conference play. They sit behind a 5-0 St. Edward's and 4-1 St. Mary's squad. The Lady Chaps are riding a three-game win streak and have won two of their last three road games (2-5 on the road).
 
LOOKING BACK AT THEIR LAST CONTEST
Bailey Haist and Tess Bruffey each had 18 points and Lubbock Christian University matched a season high three-game win streak with a 65-49 Heartland Conference victory over Rogers State University Saturday inside Rip Griffin Center.
 
Bruffey opened the game's scoring 13 seconds into the game and LCU never trailed, opening with an 8-2 run. RSU used back-to-back buckets by Lauren Schuldt to tie the game at 8-8 in the opening quarter. LCU, who led 13-8 after the first quarter, responded with a 10-1 run capped by a three-pointer from Haist to give LCU an 18-9 lead with 6:43 left in the second quarter. RSU would cut the deficit to a five-point differential on two occasions, but a three-pointer by Bobbi Chitsey with 26 seconds left provided LCU a 28-19 halftime lead.
 
Bruffey and Haist combined for the opening 13 points of the second half for LCU, who went on a 13-0 run and outscored RSU 16-2 for a 38-19 lead with 6:57 left in the third quarter. Halfway through the quarter, RSU went on an 11-3 scoring advantage to cut the LCU lead to 47-38 a minute into the fourth quarter. RSU would not get any closer. LCU went the final 3:52 without a field goal, but had their last nine points from the free-throw line en rout to the 65-49 win.
 
Haist and Bruffey combined for 36 of LCU's 65 points and 31 of LCU's 49 points from the field. The two also combined for 10 rebounds, with Haist matching a career high with four rebounds. Haist also matched a career high with four assists. Bruffey contributed her 18 points in 29 minutes of action, as she battled foul trouble and fouled out halfway through the fourth quarter. Hannah Harbin matched a career high with a game high nine rebounds and was a rebound short of a double-double, as she had 10 points for the Lady Chaps.
 
LCU's defense held RSU to a 23.3% (7/30) shooting mark in the first half and held them to 31% (18/58) in the game. Lauren Schuldt led RSU with 23 points, producing half (9) of RSU's 18 field goals. The rest of the team was a combined 23% (9/39) from the field. RSU out-rebounded LCU 41-35 and outscored LCU 14-2 in second chance scoring. LCU did win the turnover battle 16-9 and benefitted off a 17-5 scoring advantage in points off turnovers.
 
WEEKLY HONOR
LCU junior Tess Bruffey picked up her second Heartland Women's Basketball Player of the Week honor this season for games played from Jan. 2 - Jan. 8. Bruffey had a consistent week helping LCU to a 3-0 record on the week, with a trio of Heartland Conference wins. She had seven field goals in each game to average 18.7 points per game. The Lubbock, Texas native had 19 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and three blocks at Texas A&M International to open the week, and followed with 19 points, five rebounds and two blocks against Arkansas Fort Smith. She finished the week with 18 points, six rebounds and three steals against Rogers State. The honor is Bruffey's second Player of the Week honor this season and the third of her career.         
 
ON THEIR COURT
Tess Bruffey leads LCU in road play, with an average of 11.7 points a game. Allison Szabo leads LCU in rebounds away from home with an average of 7.9 per road tilt. Szabo (12/14), Bobbi Chitsey (12/14) and Olivia Robertson (10/13) are a combined 82.9% (34/41) from the he free-throw line on the road, but the rest of the team combines for a 58.2% (32/55) from the line. An area hampering LCU on the road is turnovers (averaging 16.6 on the road, while forcing an average of 12) and points from the free-throw line (averaging 9.4 points from the line, compared to 12.7 by the opposition).
 
FROM DOWNTOWN
Bailey Haist, with 11 three-pointers in the prior three games, has moved up to third in the Heartland Conference in three-pointers per game, with a mark of 2.1. She has an interesting trend developing, as she has been held without a three-point field goal in every-other-game over the past six games, and in the games she has made a field goal, she has made at least three.
 
D-FENCE
LCU's defense ranks fourth nationally, holding the opposition to a 32.8% shooting mark, despite ranking 261st nationally in three-point shooting defense (34.6%). LCU has allowed 101 three-pointers this season, but inside the arc, their defense has held opponents to a 31.9% shooting mark. 
 
MILESTONES
- Allison Szabo is two blocks shy of 94 career blocks, which would move her into fifth on LCU's career blocks list and ahead of Mamy N'Kolomoni, who had 93 blocks from 1998-2002.
 
BLOCKING THINGS OUT
LCU, who led NCAA in blocks last season, ranks sixth in the NCAA this season in blocks per game (5.9) and is third in total blocks (88). Tess Bruffey ranks third nationally in blocks per game (3.5) and is fifth in total blocks (45). Allison Szabo ranks 38th in blocks (25). Each block Bruffey garners adds to her career totals, which are program and Heartland Conference career records.
 
IN THE GROOVE
Tess Bruffey connected with two three-pointers in Saturday's win over Rogers State. It was her first game with more than one three-pointer since nailing three long distance shots on Nov. 21 against Wayland Baptist. Hopefully a sign of getting in a downtown groove for Bruffey, who was 2-for-24 (8.3%) during a nine-game stretch prior to Saturday from long range. 
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT OPSU
• The Aggies, who went 2-24 last season (2-12 at home) are 1-12 this season, with a conference mark of 0-5. They have dropped their prior 10 games and are coming off a 97-59 loss to Newman.
• The Heartland preseason picked OPSU to finish ninth in the conference. They went 1-17 in conference play last season.
• The contest is LCU's final Heartland Conference game in Goodwell, Okla., as OPSU announced this season as their final season in NCAA Div.II. The university made the decision to move to NAIA.
• The Aggies are led in scoring by Darby Price, who leads the team averaging 11.9 points a contest. She has had at least 10 points scored in six of the past seven Aggie contests.
• OPSU has been held to 35 three-pointers this season, with a mark of 2.7 per game. The 35 three-point field goals ranks 297th out of 307 NCAA Div. II programs. They enter the game seeking to end a two-game sequence of being held without a three-pointer (0-of-19 in their prior two games).
 
THE SERIES AGAINST OPSU
The two programs have met 45 times all-time and this marks the third time ever the two teams have met with LCU leading the all-time series (24-21). The Lady Chaps have won 17 of the last 19 meetings. LCU swept the season series the last three seasons and have won seven consecutive meetings.
 
PREVIOUS RECAP VS. OPSU
Jan. 28, 2016 (Goodwell, Okla.) - LCU: 100 - OPSU: 57
No.1 Lubbock Christian University used a 26-0 first quarter run and received points from 14 different players to produce their highest scoring total on the road this season with a 100-57 Heartland Conference victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State University Thursday night at Oscar Williams Field House.
 
Brittany Alavinejad opened the game with a three-pointer for the Aggies and LCU opened the game's first 1:17 without a point and missed their first two scoring chances.  Haley Fowler ended the Lady Chaparrals scoring silence with a three-pointer to tie the game at 3-3 and it jumpstarted a 26-0 scoring run over the next 5:36 for a commanding 26-3 lead. LCU scored on eight straight possessions and on 12 of 13 possessions during the run. The Lady Chaps benefited on offensive rebounds in the opening quarter, outscoring OPSU 14-0 in second chance points in the quarter. LCU led 34-11 heading into the second quarter.
 
LCU received points from 10 different players in the opening half. Tess Bruffey, Kelsey Hoppel and Fowler each had 10 points in the opening half, with Bruffey also grabbing five of the team's 13 offensive boards in the half. A 29-6 rebound advantage in the opening half led LCU to a 60-26 halftime lead. LCU had 13 offensive rebounds compared to four defensive rebounds for OPSU. It led to a 20-2 scoring advantage in second chance scoring for LCU in the half.
 
The Lady Chaps kept their distance in the second half and continued to build on their lead. LCU never led by less than 38 points over the final 13 minutes of the game.
 
LCU finished the game with 55 rebounds (22 offensive) for their highest rebound total of the season and the most since Feb. 21, 2015 (vs. Texas – Permian Basin). The Lady Chaps produced a season high in rebounds despite no individual player getting double figures in rebounds. Thirteen different Lady Chaps had at least one rebound (11 different players had at least one offensive board).
 
The rebounds led to LCU finishing the game with a 26-7 scoring advantage in second chance scoring. LCU dressed 15 players and 14 of the 15 produced at least a point in the game. Fowler and Hoppel each co-led LCU with 14 points. They were a pair of LCU's five double-figure performers.  Bailey Haist and Hampton each had 12 points and Bruffey finished with 11 points.
 
OPSU received a game-high 16 points from Tatyana Bell. The Aggies were 23 of 26 from the charity stripe (88.5%).