ST. MARY'S THANKSGIVING CLASSIC
MIDWESTERN STATE (3-1) vs. No.6/8 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (6-1)
Saturday, November 25, 2017 - 3 p.m.
Bill Greehey Arena (San Antonio, Texas)
Radio: Online Only
All-Time Series: MSU leads 22-6
BOUNCE BACK TIME
No.6/8 Lubbock Christian University has their first challenge to see how they respond coming off a loss Saturday, as the Lady Chaps face Midwestern State University Saturday, which comes less than 24 hours after falling to No.1 Ashland for their first loss of the season. The contest is LCU's final contest of the 2017 St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic inside Bill Greehey Arena. The contest also closes out a busy three-game week for LCU.
FRIDAY FLASHBACK
No.1 Ashland forced No.6/8 Lubbock Christian University into 27 turnovers and used 25 points from Jodi Johnson, who set an Ashland program record with a 16-of-16 shooting performance from the free-throw line, to defeat the Lady Chaparrals 79-66 for their 42nd straight victory to mark the third longest win streak in NCAA Division II history. The battle between the two recent NCAA Division II national champions was the opening game of the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic played inside Bill Greehey Arena.
Friday's match was filled with a combined 49 turnovers, marking the most in a Lady Chaps contest since LCU (with 34) and Azusa Pacific combined for 60 turnovers on Dec. 30, 2005 in California. Ashland, who committed 22 turnovers, executed their full-court press to force LCU into 27 turnovers, which is the most by the Lady Chaps since they committed 31 at Tarleton State on Nov. 18, 2010.
LCU had a 4-2 lead, but Ashland countered with an 8-0 run to lead 10-4 and led the rest of the way. Despite the first half turnover woes, LCU trailed 38-30 at the half and used a 6-0 run to start the second half to cut the deficit to 38-36 on a
Caitlyn Cunyus layup 1:51 into the half. The Eagles fought off the Lady Chaps comeback attempt with a three-pointer by Maddie Dackin, which sparked a 5-0 run and Ashland outscored LCU 18-6 to build their lead to 56-42. The Eagles led as much as 66-48 before taking a 66-49 lead into the fourth quarter. Once again, LCU fought back, using a 7-0 run to cut a 71-57 deficit down to 71-64 with 1:50 remaining. The turnover bugaboo dampened any further challenge by the Lady Chaps, as they committed three turnovers in the final 1:05 of the game.
The Lady Chaps out-shot the defending champions in the game, 47.9% (23/48) to 46.9% (23/49) from the field. The Eagles had the upper hand behind the line, going 25-of-26 (96.2%) from the free-throw line and 47.1% (8-of-17) from three-point range. Despite the abundant amount of turnovers, LCU did have success against the press and
Maddi Chitsey was able to capitalize in the front court with a career high 21 points off 9-of-15 shooting. LCU, which struggled (2-of-11 from beyond the arc), shot 56.8% (21/37) inside the arc. Chitsey was 8-of-12 and
Olivia Robertson, who finished with 13 points, was 6-of-8 inside the arc. LCU also received 14 points from
Bobbi Chitsey and 11 points from
Tess Bruffey. Ashland, led by Johnson's 26 points, also received 14 points from Dackin. The Eagles, who entered the game with a nation-leading average of 97 points per game, improved to 5-0 on the season.
TIME WAS ON THEIR SIDE
LCU fell behind 19-15 at the end of Friday's first quarter against Ashland, ending a streak of 24 consecutive quarters in which LCU had not trailed. They were chasing a streak from their 2015-16 championship season in which they completed the first 36 quarters without trailing at the quarter's conclusion. Prior to Friday (through six games), LCU had led for 91.6% (219:45 of 240 minutes) of their games and had trailed in 4.6% (11:05) of the contests. Through the first six games of the 15-16 season, LCU led for 89.2% of the games (218:38 of 245 minutes) and trailed for 5% of the games.
SISTER CHRISTIAN
Friday marked the first game in which sisters Maddi and
Bobbi Chitsey were each in double figures in the same game (in their LCU careers), as Maddi posted a career high 21 points and Bobbi provided 14 points. The last time LCU had a pair of sisters with at least 10 points in the same game was Feb. 18, 2017, as sisters Tess (18 points) and Claire Bruffey (13 points) completed the task against Oklahoma Panhandle State.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MSU
• Midwestern State is seeking to bounce back from a an 8-18 season a year ago, which included a 5-15 conference record in the Lone Star Conference. They are two seasons removed from a 23-7 record from the 2014-15 season.
• The Lone Star Conference preseason polls selected the Mustangs to finish ninth in the conference this season.
• MSU opened their play in the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic Friday topping St. Mary's 62-47, overcoming a 26-21 halftime deficit by out-scoring the Rattlers 41-21 in the second half to place their record at 3-1.
• The Mustangs are coached by former Texas Tech Lady Raider Noel Johnson, who enters her 10th season at the helm of the MSU women's basketball program with an overall record of 129-125 (.508).
• Through their opening three games of the season, MSU is averaging 30.5 free-throw attempts per game (16 per game for their opponents).
THE SERIES AGAINST MSU
The Mustangs command the all-time series with a 22-6 series record over LCU, which included 11 consecutive wins until LCU won the prior meeting 92-71 on Dec. 3, 2015. LCU documents have MSU leading the all-time series 21-5 and MSU has MSU leading the series 21-7. There were some MSU forfeitures in the mix, which enters in the confusion. LCU is 0-15 all-time away from Lubbock in the all-time series (0-14 in Wichita Falls).
PRIOR MEETING VS. MSU
Dec. 3, 2015 (Lubbock, Texas): LCU 92 - MSU 71
Lubbock Christian University and Midwestern State University combined for 95 points off the bench and Whitney Taylor supplied MSU with 17 points off the bench, but LCU used a 28-8 scoring advantage in the first quarter and 12 points off the bench from Allison Szabo to claim a 92-71 win at Rip Griffin Center for LCU's first win over MSU since 1990.
LCU opened the game on a 14-3 run and had 16 points off their bench in the opening quarter. The Mustangs committed six turnovers in the opening quarter leading to a 14-3 advantage in points off turnovers. Szabo had eight of her 12 points in the quarter. LCU's defense held MSU to three field goals (3/13) in the quarter, with only one tallied inside the perimeter.
The Mustangs rebounded in the second quarter with a 22-point quarter, which is the second highest quarter total by a Lady Chaps opponent this season. Whitney Taylor, who had 11 points in the first half, scored eight of her points in the quarter.
MSU was 5-of-8 (62.5%) from long range in the opening half, but were 6-of-21 (28.6%) inside the arc. LCU led 53-30 at the half and shot 60.6% (20/33) in the half.
LCU was unable to maintain their hot shooting in the second half. LCU opened the second half 1-of-10 inside the arc. They were also 5-of-10 from the line during the quarter, but had key outside shooting. They opened 4-for-4 from three-point range, with Bailey Haist connecting on a trio. Jacquar Westbrooks and Whitney Paul combined for 13 points in the quarter for MSU and they were able to cut the LCU lead to 16 (57-41), but they would get no closer.
The Lady Chaps played all 15 players and 12 produced offensively. They received 45 points from their bench and 47 from their starters. No starter played more than 26 minutes for LCU. MSU produced 40 of their 71 points from their bench. The Mustangs used 14 players and received points from 10 different players. Kelsey Hoppel led LCU with 13 points. She was joined in double figures by Nicole Hampton (12 points), Szabo (12 points) and Haley Fowler (11 points). Westbrooks led all scorers with 18 points and MSU also received 17 points from Taylor and 10 points from Anni Scholl.
LCU shot 52.5% (32/61) from the field and 58.8% (10/17) from long range. MSU, like LCU, also shot better from three-point range than inside the arc, going 8-of-12 (66.7%) from downtown. Scholl and Taylor were each 3-for-4, while LCUs success came from Haist (3-for-3), Hoppel (3-for-5) and Blair Taylor (2-for-2). LCU produced nine blocks in the game, with
Tess Bruffey blocking five. Hampton was two rebounds and two assists shy of a triple-double. LCU out-scored MSU 26-13 in points off turnovers and 18-4 in fast break points.
Lubbock Christian ended a streak of 11 consecutive losses in the all-time history with MSU. The Mustangs (1-7), who were making their first trip to Lubbock since 1994, suffered their first loss to LCU since Jan. 17, 1990. It was the 28th meeting all-time and the first for Lubbock Christian (their sixth win in the all-time series) resulting in a win of over 11 points.
