WESTERN NEW MEXICO (0-2) at No.23 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (3-0)
Friday, November 17 - 6:00 PM
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: KTTU Double-T 97.3 FM
All-Time Series: WNMU leads 10-7
AT "THE RIP"
The No.23 Lubbock Christian University Lady Chaparrals are home after opening their 2017-18 schedule with three games in Commerce, Texas, and they serve host to the Arbor Hotels Classic with a pair of games inside Rip Griffin Center. LCU opens their home slate Friday hosting Western New Mexico and following Saturday hosting Texas Permian Basin (UTPB). Both contests tip at 6 p.m. inside Rip Griffin Center. Heartland Conference foe St. Mary's will complete the classic field.
MONDAY MEMORIES
Tess Bruffey completed a double-double in the opening half and finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds, and No.23 Lubbock Christian University also received offensive production from 10 different players, as they rolled to 3-0 with a 74-39 win over Texas A&M-Commerce Monday evening inside University Field House.
Lubbock Christian University opened the game 5-of-7 from the field, with the opening five field goals converted by five different Lady Chaps. Meanwhile, the Lions struggled to generate any offense early. They missed their first 11 shot attempts and went 1-of-17 (5.9%) from the field in the opening quarter. LCU outscored TAMUC 23-4 in the first quarter, with Bruffey scoring 11 points for the Lady Chaps in the quarter. She was 3-for-4 from three-point range. Seven different Lady Chaps tallied at least a point in the opening quarter of play.
The second quarter got off to a slow start, with neither team scoring the first 2:40 into the quarter. The Lady Chaps opened the second quarter on a 7-3 run and built the lead to 30-10 on a free-throw by Bobby Chitsey. LCU went on to hold TAMUC to one two-point field goal and four total field goals the entire first half. Bruffey had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the first half to notch her second straight double-double performance and LCU led 38-12 at the half.
Continuing where they left off, LCU opened the third quarter with a three-pointer from Delaney Gattis and it jumpstarted a 7-2 run for a 45-14 lead. LCU shot 61.5% (8/13) from the field in the third quarter, going 5-of-6 inside the arc. Bruffey led LCU with six points in the quarter. Reserves flooded the court in the fourth quarter, with LCU leading 62-28 to start the quarter.
Allie Schulte, who completed the contest with four steals, produced five of her eight points in the quarter to lead LCU in the frame. Maddie Chitsey converted a layup with 7:43 remaining for LCU's largest lead (68-30).
Caitlyn Cunyus and
Olivia Robertson each had 10 points and they joined Bruffey in double figures in points. Bruffey was 5-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range. She was a rebound shy of matching a career high and also finished with five blocks. LCU went 11-of-28 (39.3%) from long range, marking their second straight game with at least 10 three-pointers. TAMUC was held to 21.7% (13/60) shooting on the night, with Melanie Ransom leading the squad with 10 points.
OPEN HOUSE
The Lady Chaps have won their home openers the prior five seasons. Their last home opening loss was a 61-44 loss to Metro State on Nov. 5, 2011. LCU is 13-1 all-time in home openers under
Steve Gomez. Last season, LCU opened the home schedule with a 63-48 win over Colorado School of mines.
LEAVING THEIR MARK
Monday, LCU held Texas A&M-Commerce to a 21.7% shooting mark from the field. It was the lowest shooting mark LCU has held the home team since holding Oklahoma Panhandle State to a 21.4% shooting mark in Goodwell, Okla. on Jan. 19, 2015.
BLOCK IT OUT
Tess Bruffey, who ranked second nationally last season in blocks per game (3.9), collected 10 blocks on LCU's opening three-game road trip. She ranks seventh nationally in blocks (10) and 11th in blocks per game (3.3). Bruffey collected two double-doubles on the trip as well ranks tied for 12th nationally in the category. In her career, Bruffey has a program and conference record 282 blocks, marking her as the NCAA Div. II's active career leader (third among all levels). She also ranks on the NCAA Div. II's active career leader charts in points (1,272, 10th) and double-doubles (16, 18th).
NATIONALLY KNOWN
D2SIDA has LCU ranked No.23 in their Women's Basketball Preseason Media National Poll. LCU has found their way into the D2SIDA preseason poll four consecutive seasons, marking every season they have been eligible to appear (due to the transfer from NAIA to NCAA Div. II), ranking No. 4 (2016-17), No.15 (2015-16) and receiving votes in 2014-15. LCU was the third highest ranked team in the South Central Region, behind No.5 Colorado State – Pueblo and No.13 West Texas A&M. The D2SIDA polls are voted on by a committee of sports information directors at Division II member institutions nationwide.
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association released their 2017-18 Women's Basketball NCAA Div. II Preseason Top 25 Coaches' Poll and Lubbock Christian University opened the season receiving votes. The WBCA NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Preseason Poll is another poll LCU has consistently debut in each season since being eligible. Last season, LCU opened the season ranked No.11, which was their highest WBCA preseason poll ranking. In 2015, they debuted at No.18 before making their way to No.1 en route their NCAA Division II national title. The next round of national rankings come out next week.
MAKING IT THROUGH THE WEEKEND
LCU was one of 84-teams that made it through the weekend nationally (in NCAA Div. II) without a loss on the season and joined Newman as the only Heartland Conference teams to go unscathed. LCU is sitting 3-0 for the second time since the 2012-13 season. They went 16-0 to open the 2012-13 season and 35-0 to open and complete their 2015-16 championship season.
DOWNTOWN
The Lady Chaps lead the Heartland Conference and rank 19th nationally with 25 three-pointers made on the season. LCU has received three-point field goals from 10 different individuals, led by seven from
Tess Bruffey. They are averaging 8.3 per game, which is above a 7.3 pace last season and a 7.5 rate in 2015-16.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WESTERN NEW MEXICO
• WNMU is coming off a 5-22 campaign last season, which included a 1-19 mark in the Lone Star Conference. The Silver City, N.M. based program went 0-12 on the road last season and head into Lubbock with a 17-game road losing streak. Their last road win was as a members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and a conference road win at Adams State on Jan. 23, 2016
• The Lone Star Conference preseason picked the Mustangs to finish 11th in their conference.
• WNMU opens their season with four matches against Heartland Conference squads. They already have two contests under their belt, as they traveled to Claremore, Okla. during the opening weekend and fell 65-56 to Rogers State and 76-54 to Newman.
• The Mustangs turned the ball over 26 times in their opening weekend of play and rank 34th nationally in turnovers per game (13.0).
• Ciara Fields leads WNMU with an average of 14.5 points per game. She is coming off a high of 16 points against Newman. Fields played two games in the Rip Griffin Center last season as a member of Cochise in the NJCAA Women's Basketball National Championship Tournament.
THE SERIES AGAINST WNMU
The Mustangs and Lady Chaps are set to meet for the 18th time in an all-time series that dates back to 1980. WNMU has a 10-7 series lead, but has not defeated the Lady Chaps since 1994. LCU has won the prior four meetings.
PREVIOUS RECAP VS. WNMU
Nov. 20, 2007 (Silver City, N.M.) - LCU: 85 - WNMU: 55
The Lady Chaparrals opened the game on a 10-0 run and never looked back en route to an 85-55 victory over Western New Mexico.
Jordan Hampton led the then-No. 10 Lady Chaparrals with a game-high 20 points, including 6-of-8 shooting from three-point range. Carolyn Manning added 16 points to go along with 11 rebounds, Severyn Smith had 12 points and Jennifer Hughes tallied 10 points.
LCU shot 52.4 percent (11-21) from three-point range. Its biggest lead of the game was 32 points when they led 85-53 with seven seconds remaining.
The Chaps defense was just as impressive, forcing the Mustangs to shoot 29 percent (18-62) from the field.
