No.23 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (1-0) vs. METROPOLITAN STATE OF DENVER (0-1)
Saturday, November 11 - 5:30 PM
TAMUC Field House (Commerce, Texas)
Radio: Online Only
All-Time Series: Tied 2-2
KEEP IT ROLLING
No.23 Lubbock Christian University looks to keep the momentum going, following their season opening 57-52 win over No.5 Colorado State-Pueblo Friday, as they play their final game in the 1525 Tournament facing Metropolitan State University of Denver Saturday at Texas A&M-Commerce Field House. LCU hopes to improve to 2-0, while MSU Denver has aspirations to garner their first win of the season after a loss Friday to Texas A&M-Commerce. The 1525 Tournament comes to an end Saturday, but LCU will remain in Commerce to face Texas A&M-Commerce Monday before returning back to the Hub City.
FRIDAY REWIND
In the opening weekend-play of the 2016-17 season, Lubbock Christian University let an eight-point fourth quarter lead slip away in a loss to Colorado State - Pueblo. Friday afternoon at Texas A&M-Commerce Field House, No.23 LCU opened the 2017-18 season holding off a surge by No.5 Colorado State – Pueblo and receiving a combined 29 points from
Caitlyn Cunyus (16 points) and
Olivia Robertson (13 points) to stake claim to a 57-52 win at the 1525 Tournament hosted by TAMUC.
LCU was able to prevail despite going the final 7:59 of the game without scoring a field goal. To add to the dramatics, LCU also went without the services of All-American
Tess Bruffey the final 7:26, as she fouled out and was limited to 19 minutes due to fouls. Fortunately for LCU, the Lady Chaps led as much as 14 points (49-35) before CSU-P went the final 11:57 of the game out-scoring LCU 17-8. The most intense run for the ThunderWolves during their rally was a 7-0 run, which cut LCU's 53-41 lead to 53-48 with 3:10 remaining. LCU, unsuccessful on their last nine field goal attempts, was able to score their final four points from the charity stripe and hold CSU-P to one field goal in their final five attempts spanning the final 3:09 of the game.
The opening half was much tighter played. LCU opened the game 0-for-7 from the field and did not knock down their first bucket until Robertson hit a jumper 3:17 into the opening quarter. The Lady Chaps offense was held to a 20% shooting percentage in the opening quarter, but second chances provided LCU a 20-9 advantage in shot attempts and the two teams were tied 11-11 after the opening 10 minutes. There were 11 lead changes in the first half, and the last lead change came late in the second quarter. CSU-P, behind a Tuileisu Anderson three-pointer, took their largest lead (25-22) with 3:16 left in the half, but LCU answered back closing the half on an 8-0 run of an eventual 11-0 run. LCU led 30-25 at the half. They out-scored CSU-P 21-14 in the third quarter and Robertson and
Maddi Chitsey combined to spur LCU onto a 7-0 run to lead 47-35, matching their largest lead of the game.
LCU forced CSU-P into 21 turnovers, leading to a 15-8 advantage in points off turnovers. Robertson produced a career-high five steals, marking the most by a Lady Chap since Nicole Hampton had five against West Texas A&M in the 2016 South Central Regional Tournament (Mar. 13, 2016).
Caitlyn Cunyus led LCU with a career high 16 points. She was joined in double figures by Robertson (13 points) and
Maddi Chitsey, who had a career high in points (11) and rebounds (9). LCU shot 33.9% (20/59) from the field in the game, with a second half in which they shot 53.3% (8/15) in the third quarter and 8.3% (1/12) in the fourth quarter. Remove the game's opening 3:17 (0-for-7) and the final 7:59 (0-for-9) and LCU was 46.5% (20/43) from the field.
CSU-Pueblo received a game high 19 points from Molly Rohrer and 14 points from Anderson. The Pack (0-1) fell in the head coaching debut of Curtis Loyd in ironic fashion. He replaced Jim Turgeon, who also fell in his CSU-P coaching debut to LCU at the start of the 2015-16 season.
CHAP DEBUTS
LCU, with a roster of 15 players, rolled with eight players seeing playing time Friday against the ThunderWolves. Of the eight players,
Kailin Davis (transfer from Air Force Academy) and
Allie Schulte (freshman from Nazareth, Texas) were the only players that made their Lady Chaps debut when checking into the fray. Davis had four rebounds and a basket, while Schulte produced a rebound in seven minutes of action.
BACK-AND-FOURTH
Friday, LCU's opening half featured 11 lead changes (there were none in the second half). The 11 lead changes matched last season's high for lead changes in a game, as LCU and Newman shifted gears 11 times on Feb. 16, 2017 inside Rip Griffin Center. LCU has won their last five games in which there have been 10 or more lead changes. The last time LCU lost a game with 10 or more lead changes was on Mar. 16, 2013, which was LCU's final game under the NAIA umbrella; a 63-61 loss to Cumberland (Tenn.) at the NAIA Championships in Kentucky.
FOR OPENERS
With Friday's win, The Lady Chaps (1-0) improved to 25-14 all-time in season openers and 9-6 all-time in openers under head coach
Steve Gomez. The win is their second win of their last seven games when opening the season away from home (both against CSU-Pueblo).
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT METRO STATE
• Metro State is coming off a 17-15 record last season and finishing sixth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings with a 14-8 mark. They closed last season going 8-3 in their last 11 games.
• The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference preseason picked the Roadrunners fifth in the conference.
• Georgia Ohrdorf (15.8 points per game last season) and Jaelynn Smith (12.7 points per game last season) are returning Roadrunners, who claimed Preseason All-RMAC honors this season.
• Last season, MSU Denver ranked 29th nationally in turnovers a game with a minimum of 13.3.
• The Roadrunners opened their season Friday falling 70-67 to Texas A&M-Commerce. MSU Denver fell despite shooting 53.3% inside the arc (24/45) and having four players in double figures led by Georgia Ohrdorf's 19 points.
THE SERIES AGAINST METRO STATE
The all-time series is tied 2-2. The first meeting was on Nov.5, 2011 (game was an exhibition game for Metro State) with Metro defeating LCU 61-44 in a contest LCU was 0-of-15 from three-point range. LCU claimed a win in the following meeting 81-63 on Nov. 16, 2012 in Denver, as Metro was ranked No.7 nationally and LCU carried a No.1 ranking in NAIA. Last season, the two teams played in Denver, Colo. in the season opener won by MSU Denver 67-51.
PREVIOUS RECAP VS. METRO STATE
Nov. 11, 2016 (Denver, Colo.) - MSUD:67 - LCU:51
No.4/11 Lubbock Christian University had their 35-game win streak come to an end, as they opened the 2016-2017 season with a 67-51 loss at Metropolitan State University of Denver in the opening day of play at the Holiday Inn Cherry Creek Classic.
LCU started the game with five different players than they started in every regular season game last season and in their national championship game in Indianapolis.
Tess Bruffey is the only returning starter from last season and the All-American is out of the lineup with an injury. Allison Szabo was LCU's only starter that had started a game last season (she started two games during the conference tournament as Kellyn Schneider was injured).
Bobbi Chitsey,
Olivia Robertson and Hannah Harbin made their first career start and Bailey Haist made her first start since the 2014-2015 season.
With the five new starters thrown into a season opener, LCU's expectations were more of unknowns, but they probably did not expect the sluggish start they experienced Friday. LCU missed their first four field goal attempts and two free throw attempts before they finally received a field goal from Szabo 4:11 into the game, which also ended Metro State's 6-0 run to open the game. LCU was held to seven points in the opening quarter and trailed 15-7 heading into the second quarter. The Lady Chaps ended up going 5-of-24 from the field in the first half for a 20.8% shooting mark from the field. They were 0-for-11 from three-point range (0-of-7 in the first quarter). Meanwhile, Metro State was 43.3% (13/30) from the field at the half with a 32-15 lead.
The Lady Chaps did not have anything more than a 3-0 run until
Delaney Gaddis followed a Bailey Haist three-pointer with a field goal as 5:30 remained in the third quarter and LCU trailed 39-24. Haist ended up with a pair of three-pointers in the third quarter and was later joined with one by Allea Harris, and it was LCU's first sign of life, as they closed the third quarter on a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 41-30. LCU had trailed as much as 19 points in the quarter. LCU was never able to cut the deficit into single digits.
The Roadrunners outscored LCU 11-2 in second chance scoring, taking advantage of a 43-27 rebound advantage. The lone second chance points came on a foul on an offensive rebound, which led to Harris making the free throws for two of her seven second half points.
Georgia Ohrdorf (16 points, 14 rebounds) and Emily Hartegan (17 points, 11 rebounds) each produced double-doubles in the win for the Roadrunners. Metro State was 60% (6-of-10) from three-point range.
Haist and Szabo co-led LCU with 10 points. All 10 came in the second half for Haist, who was 3-of-4 from long range in the second half. Szabo had five rebounds and five of LCU's six blocks in the game (the five blocks matched a career high for a third time). Robertson matched a career high with eight points.
