No.14/19 SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE (8-0)
at No.5/6 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (9-1)
Thursday, December 7, 2017 - 6 p.m.
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: 100.7 FM "The Score"
All-Time Series: Series Tied 2-2
AND AFTERWARDS THEY CAN TAKE A BREAK
No. 5/6 Lubbock Christian University continues a four-game homestand with their lone game of the week, hosting No. 14/19 Southwestern Oklahoma State University Thursday at 6 p.m. LCU will enjoy the following eight days without a game, which will mark their longest in-season break through 11 games on the schedule. The Lady Chaps enter Thursday's play riding a three-game win streak to face an unbeaten Lady Bulldogs (8-0) squad, marking the third time this season in which LCU has faced an unbeaten team (Colorado State-Pueblo and Ashland).
SATURDAY SUMMARY
No.7/8 Lubbock Christian University received a career-high 20 points from
Caitlyn Cunyus and the Lady Chaparrals opened their Heartland Conference schedule with a 67-62 win over Arkansas - Fort Smith Saturday to extend their Rip Griffin Center win streak to 39 games (longest active streak in NCAA Division II) and their streak of conference home wins to 43 games.
The contest featured seven lead changes and the score tied on 14 occasions, with neither team enjoying more than an eight-point lead margin. UAFS, who never led by more than four points in the game, led 6-2 with 6:27 left in the opening quarter, but LCU answered with field goals from
Maddi Chitsey and
Olivia Robertson to tie the contest 6-6. LCU never had a lead in the opening quarter and received a jumper at the horn from
Delaney Gaddis to tie the score at the end of the quarter 8-8. UAFS missed their final 11 shot attempts in the quarter and it eventually fell into a 0-of-12 shooting slump for the Lady Lions. They went a span of 7:50 without a field goal, which ended with a Tayla Taylor layup 1:23 into the second quarter to tie the contest at 10-10 and end LCU's 6-2 run during the sequence.
UAFS opened the game 5-of-30 (16.7%) from the field, but then picked up an offensive grove, closing the half making four of their final five shot attempts. Cunyus connected on a three-pointer with 3:03 left in the second quarter to provide LCU a 20-14 lead for their largest lead of the first half. The 8-2 LCU run was interrupted by UAFS closing the half hitting their final four shots of the half to cut Lady Chaps lead to 22-21 at the half. UAFS eventually included their 4-of-5 shooting streak to go 8-of-9, making their first four shot attempts of the second half.
In the combined portions of the second quarter and the third quarter, both teams found their offensive tempo. UAFS went a span of 8:39 going 10-of-13 (76.9%) from the field, while LCU went a span of 10:24 going 11-of-14 (78.6%) from the field (LCU went 9-of-10 inside the arc during the streak). Through the hot shooting, there were six occasions the score was tied and there were four lead changes in the quarter. The Lady Lions shooting success came to an end late in the quarter and they went the final 4:10 without a field goal off 0-of-7 shooting. LCU closed the third quarter outscoring UAFS 12-4 (capped by a Gaddis three-pointer at the horn) over the final 4:10 and took a 49-41 lead into the fourth quarter for their largest lead of the game.
Two of UAFS's first three field goals in the final quarter were from three-point range and it helped them cut LCU's lead to 51-49 with 6:23 remaining. A 12-3 UAFS run, stapled by a Tayla Taylor jumper with 4:10 left in the game, gave the Lady Lions a 53-52 lead. It was the first of two lead changes over the next 2:13. Mariah Green produced a layup off a steal to put UAFS up 55-52 with 3:55 left, but Cunyus answered at the other end with a three-pointer to tie the game 55-55. LCU eventually regained the lead with a layup from
Tess Bruffey to go up 58-56 with 1:57 remaining. It was just one of two field goals (the only two-point field goal) in the quarter from LCU, who scored 13 points from the free-throw line in the quarter, with their final nine points coming from the line. The free-throw shooting was enough to hold off the Lady Lions, who closed the game 1-of-5 from the field.
LCU, out-scoring UAFS 28-22 in the paint, received double-digit offensive production from four Lady Chaps, led by Cunyus' career high performance. Bruffey, who went 4-of-6 from the field in the second half after missing her first five shot attempts, produced her fifth double-double of the season (19th of her career) with 14 rebounds and 12 points, and also added five blocks and five assists.
Delaney Gaddis (11 points and one shy of her career high) and
Olivia Robertson (10 points) joined Bruffey and Cunyus in double figures in points. LCU had to overcome 20 turnovers in the game, which is the most they have committed in a victory since 24 in a win over Lenoir-Rhyne in Puerto Rico (Nov. 26, 2016). A contributor to the LCU turnovers was Lundon Williams, who produced six steals, which is the most by an opposing player this season and the most since Kyrstie Miller produced six for Emporia State against LCU on Dec. 3, 2016. UAFS was led by Tayla Taylor, who completed a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
OPENING CREDITS
With Saturday's win over Arkansas-Fort Smith, LCU is 4-1 in Heartland Conference openers and 13-2 all-time in conference openers under head coach
Steve Gomez.
NATIONALLY KNOWN
New national rankings came out Tuesday afternoon, and the Lady Chaparrals moved up a spot in each poll, moving to No.5 in D2SIDA's Top-25 Poll for NCAA Division II women's basketball and No.6 in the WBCA's Top-25 Poll. They are the top team in the polls of teams that have suffered a loss. The No.5 ranking is the best ranking they have received this season.
PERIMETER PLAY
On the offensive side, LCU ranks 16th nationally with 71 three-pointers made on the season.
Caitlyn Cunyus leads the team with 18 three-pointers. Their three-point shooting percentage ranks 10th nationally at 39.9%. LCU has produced at least 10 three-pointers in four of their 10 games this season, which is a task they completed once in the opening 12 games of last season. On the defensive side, LCU leads the Heartland Conference holding opponents to a 27.5% shooting percentage from long range.
PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES
LCU leads the Heartland Conference and ranks 11th nationally in field goal percentage, shooting 47.8% from the field. They also rank seventh nationally in field goal defense, holding the opposition to 31.0% shooting on the season. Their allowance of 52.7 points per game ranks 10th in the nation.
BLOCKING IT OUT
Tess Bruffey, who ranked second nationally last season in blocks per game (3.9), leads the nation with 40 blocks on the season. Her 40 blocks come at a rate of 4.0 per game (leads nationally). The Lady Chaps, as a team, leads the nation with 65 blocks. Bruffey has five double-doubles on the season as well ranks tied for 11th nationally in the category. In her career, Bruffey has a program and conference record 312 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 (1,369, 12th) and double-doubles (19, 17th).
RANKING THINGS
Southwestern Oklahoma State will mark LCU's third ranked opponent this season. LCU is 1-1 against ranked foes, defeating No.5 Colorado State-Pueblo and falling to No.1 Ashland. Each of the prior two contests were neutral site games. Southwestern Oklahoma State is the first NCAA Division II ranked team to play LCU in Lubbock since No.9/11 West Texas A&M played in the NCAA Div. II South Central Region Tournament on Mar. 13, 2016 (LCU won 88-66). Last season, NAIA No.22 ranked Wayland Baptist came to Lubbock on Nov. 21, 2016 and LCU defeated the Flying Queens 72-50.
WHAT IS ON THE LINE?
SWOSU will seek to end LCU's 39-game home win streak, which actively leads NCAA Div. II. If LCU extends the streak to 40, they will become the 16th team in NCAA Div. II history to produce 40 consecutive wins on their home floor. The record is 87 consecutive home victories by Nebraska-Kearney, who completed the task from Jan. 31, 1995 - Nov. 24, 2001. LCU's last home loss came on Jan. 1, 2015 against Oklahoma City University.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT SWOSU
• The Lady Bulldogs are coming off a 20-10 record last season, which included a 6-8 road record.
•The Great American Conference (GAC) preseason picked SWOSU to finish second in the conference. They went 15-7 in conference play last season and are off to a 4-0 conference start.
• The Lady Bulldogs are off to an 8-0 start, which includes a 2-0 mark against ranked foes. They are one of 20 teams unbeaten in NCAA Div. II.
• SWOSU has been able to get to the free-throw line for 222 attempts this season, which ranks ninth nationally and is at a rate of 27.8 attempts per game. They rank fourth nationally in free-throws made with 166, at a pace of 20.8 made per game. LCU opponents are averaging 11.3 points a game on an average of 14.9 attempts this season from the line.
• Hailey Tucker earned her second straight GAC Player of the Week honor last week, scoring 17 points against No. 19 Arkansas Tech on Thursday and 24 points against Harding on Saturday – averaging 20.5 points and 9.0 rebounds on the week.
THE SERIES AGAINST SWOSU
LCU is 2-2 all-time against SWOSU and this meeting marks their first in Lubbock. The first two all-time meetings were each neutral site contests, with SWOSU winning in Wichita Falls, Texas on Dec. 5, 1992 (87-53) and LCU winning in Plainview, Texas on Nov. 25, 2000 (79-63). The previous two meetings were in Weatherford, Okla., where LCU is 1-1 after falling 90-63 in the previous meeting due to SWOSU knocking down a record 15 three-pointers (most ever allowed by LCU) on Dec. 10, 2016.
PRIOR MEETING VS. SWOSU
Dec. 10, 2016 (Weatherford, Okla.): SWOSU 90 - LCU 63
Haley Tucker (26 points) and Hayden Priddy (22 points) combined for 48 points and Southwestern Oklahoma State University knocked down 15 three-pointers, as the record number of three-pointers allowed by Lubbock Christian University led to a 90-63 Lady Bulldogs win over the Lady Chaparrals Saturday afternoon inside Pioneer Cellular Events Center.
Tucker was solid for SWOSU in the opening quarter, registering 17 points in the quarter off a 5-for-6 shooting performance. All her shot attempts were from three-point range, including attempts that would have garnered three points at the NBA level. She also had three steals and four rebounds in the quarter. While her and the Lady Bulldogs were shooting 53.3% (8/15) from the field in the quarter, LCU was off to a slow start. LCU was 26.7% from the field (4/15), with a mark of 1-of-9 (11.1%) from long range and eight turnovers.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the game with their first four made field goals coming from three-point range. SWOSU had six of eight field goals in the half come from long range and led LCU 26-9 at the quarter's completion.
The shooting success carried over into the start of the second half for SWOSU, with Tucker and Tyra Aska combining for seven points to build the lead to 33-13 with 7:19 remaining in the half. LCU did answer with a 13-2 run kicked off by "threes" from
Caitlyn Cunyus and
Bobbi Chitsey. Allison Szabo had a pair of free-throws late in the run to cut the deficit to 35-26 with 3:32 remaining in the half. A jumper by
Tess Bruffey pulled the Lady Chaps within seven points (40-33) before heading into the half with a 42-33 deficit.
Tucker had half of the Lady Bulldogs production, with 21 points off 6-of-11 shooting in the first half (5-of-9 from long range). She also had six rebounds and four steals in the half. SWOSU had 14 field goals in the opening half and seven were from three-point distance. Szabo had 10 points at the half for LCU, who outscored SWOSU 24-16 in the second quarter.
SWOSU was 1-of-9 from long range in the second quarter and their streak of four straight misses ended on their opening three-point attempt of the second half, with Priddy connecting on her first of four three-pointers in the second half. It was part of an 8-2 run to open the third quarter, extending the SWOSU advantage to 50-35.
Olivia Robertson, Bruffey and Chitsey combined to hit consecutive three-pointers, as LCU scored 13 of the game's following 20 points, cutting the gap to 57-48 with 4:11 left in the third quarter. SWOSU responded with three three-pointers of their own in the final 3:53 of the quarter to take a 68-54 lead into the fourth quarter.
Priddy knocked down a three-pointer 46 seconds into the fourth quarter and it was part of an 11-2 run to the start the final quarter for SWOSU. LCU was unable to recover from the run.
SWOSU's 15 three-pointers marked the most allowed by the Lady Chaps in program history. The prior mark was 14 held by Southern Nazarene on Jan. 31, 2008. It was SWOSU's highest single game total since nailing 21 on Feb. 15, 2014 against Southeastern Oklahoma State. The Lady Bulldogs finished the game 15-of-37 from long range (40.5%). Tucker was 6-of-13 and Priddy, who entered the game shooting 19% from long distance on the season (8-of-42), was 5-of-8 in the game in three-point shooting.
Tucker matched a season high with her 26-point output. She also had eight rebounds, five steals and five assists. Fellow sophomore Priddy also had five rebounds, five assists and three steals. The Lady Bulldogs were 47.1% (32/68) from the field, had 13 steals and assisted on 22 of their 32 baskets in the contest. Outside the arc was not their only sign of success, as they outscored LCU 26-10 in the paint and forced LCU into 19 turnovers. They also had a 43-35 rebound advantage to outscore LCU 15-7 in second chance scoring (12-0 in second half).
LCU did have a career outing from Szabo, who completed her fourth career double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. The 13 rebounds was a career high, along with a pair of three-pointers she hit. Hannah Harbin (13 points), Chitsey (12 points) and Robertson (11 points) joined Szabo in double figures. LCU was 34.5% from the field (20/58). Szabo (2-of-3), Harbin (2-of-3) and Chitsey (2-for-4) combined to go 6-of-10 from three-point range, while the rest of the team combined 3-of-18 (16.7%).
