No.3/5 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (14-1, 3-0)
at ROGERS STATE (4-9, 0-2) 
Wednesday, January 10, 2018 - 5:30 p.m.                                            
Expo Center (Claremore, Okla.)
Radio: Double-T 97.3 FM
All-Time Series: LCU Leads 16-5
 
WACKY WEDNESDAY
Wednesday games are not the norm and Heartland Conference games on a Wednesday are even more unconventional, but No.3/5 Lubbock Christian University will play their lone game of the week Wednesday in Claremore, Okla. facing Rogers State University inside Expo Center.  The Lady Chaps are riding a season-high eight-game win streak into Rogers State, which includes a three-game Heartland Conference win steak.  Their 3-0 conference start marks them as the conference's only unbeaten team and Wednesday's tilt mark's their first Heartland Conference road game of the season.   
 
SATURDAY SUMMARY
Maddi Chitsey posted 19 points in the opening half and finished with a career-high 28 points to lead No.3/5 Lubbock Christian University to a 76-42 win over St. Mary's University in Heartland Conference action Saturday afternoon inside Rip Griffin Center. The season high eight-game win streak has LCU with a 43-game home win streak and extends their conference home win streak to 45 games (38-0 all-time in Heartland Conference home games).
 
Chitsey helped LCU score the first six points of the game, as part of an 8-0 run to start the game. StMU had a trio of turnovers and a pair of missed shots before Arysia Porter ended the LCU run with StMU's first points of the game with a field goal 2:52 into the game. LCU built a 13-2 lead (Chitsey with eight of the points) before StMU went on a 10-0 run spanning 3:49 off a 4-of-6 shooting performance by the Rattlers, which cut LCU's lead to 13-12. Tess Bruffey, who had her first five points of the game from the line, made a pair of free-throws to give LCU a 15-12 lead at the close of the quarter.
 
Bruffey's free-throws turned into a 15-0 LCU run (opened the second quarter with 13-0 run), as LCU went a span of 6:31 on the run with seven of the points coming from a trio of field goals from Chitsey. LCU outscored StMU 24-6 in the second quarter off 10-of-15 (66.7%) shooting from the field to provide the Lady Chaps with a 39-18 lead. Chitsey's 19 points in the opening half came off an 8-of-10 shooting performance.  LCU forced StMU in 13 turnovers in the first half, leading to a 15-2 scoring advantage in points off turnovers.
 
LCU continued to generate offense in the third quarter, opening the second half on a 13-2 run. Chitsey remained hot as well, scoring nine points in the quarter. Kailin Davis, with seven points in the quarter knocked down a layup with 50 seconds remaining in the quarter to give LCU 62-57 lead, which they took into the fourth quarter as their largest lead of the game.
 
The two squads combined to go the opening 4:25 of the fourth quarter without a field goal. StMU, going the opening five shot attempts of the quarter without a basket, ended a streak of eight consecutive misses with a jumper from Audrey Wandji for the quarter's first made field goal. LCU, mixing in their reserves much of the quarter, also missed their first five shot attempts. LCU went a span of 7:28 without a field goal, and it ended on a three-pointer by Ashton Duncan with 3:22 remaining. LCU made three field goals in the quarter and two were three-pointers by Duncan.
 
Chitsey, who did not play in the fourth quarter, finished with 28 points in 19 minutes of play off 10-of-13 shooting. She was also 7-of-8 from the free-throw line and produced four blocks. The 28-point performance is the highest single-game point performance by a Lady Chap this season. Bruffey was the game's only other player in double figures, posting 12 points. Bruffey and Chitsey each co-led the game with nine rebounds. LCU, shooting 48% (24/50) from the field, produced an assist on 18 of their 24 field goals (75%).
 
MARGINALIZE
LCU moved up to 16th nationally with a conference leading scoring margin of 19.7 points per game in outscoring their opponents. In the prior six games played prior to last Thursday (Jan. 4), LCU had single-digit wins in three of the contests. In their two games over the prior weekend, LCU outscored their opponents by an average of 27 points and never trailed in either contest. In their current eight-game win streak, LCU has trailed in four of those contests, but their largest deficit has not exceeded four points and each of their largest deficits in those contests have been in the opening quarter. They were able to rebound in each of those games and have not trailed after a quarter of play in any of their games during the current eight-game win streak.
 
MARGINS PART II
Another margin LCU leads the Heartland Conference in is rebounding margin (35th nationally), with an average of 6.9 more rebounds per game.  Coming off a season best +18 in rebounding margin Thursday against Texas A&M International, LCU topped the mark Saturday with a +19 mark. They out-rebounded StMU 42-23 for their highest rebound margin since a +19 against TAMIU on Feb. 2, 2017. The Lady Chaps produced nine offensive boards Saturday and it led to a 15-5 scoring advantage in second chance scoring (They were coming off a 17-7 advantage in the category from Thursday). LCU allowed 23 rebounds Saturday and 21 Thursday.  Prior to Thursday, the last time LCU had held a team to less than 25 rebounds was Jan. 28, 2016, holding Oklahoma Panhandle State to 21 rebounds.
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
New national rankings came out Tuesday afternoon, and the Lady Chaparrals remained at No.3 in the D2SIDA poll and at No.5 in the WBCA poll for a second straight week. They are the top team in the polls of teams that have suffered a loss. The No.3 ranking marks their best ranking this season in the D2SIDA poll. 
 
HOW UN NORMAL IS IT
The last time LCU played on a Wednesday was on Mar. 23, 2016 in Sioux Falls, S.D., where LCU defeated Bentley 67-57 in the NCAA Div. II Semifinals of the National Championships.
  
PERIMETER PLAY
On the offensive side, LCU ranks 45th nationally with 111 three-pointers made on the season. Tess Bruffey leads the team with 27 three-pointers, with Caitlyn Cunyus right behind her with 26. LCU's three-point shooting percentage ranks sixth nationally at 39.6%. On the defensive side, LCU leads the Heartland Conference holding opponents to a 28.2% shooting percentage from long range. 
 
PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES
LCU leads the Heartland Conference and ranks ninth nationally in field goal percentage, shooting 47.5% from the field.  They also lead the nation in field goal defense, holding the opposition to 31.9% shooting on the season. Their allowance of 53.1 points per game ranks sixth in the nation.
 
BLOCKING IT OUT
Tess Bruffey, who ranked second nationally last season in blocks per game (3.9), leads the nation with 67 blocks on the season. Her 67 blocks come at a rate of 4.5 per game (leads nationally) and she has more blocks than all but 20 NCAA Div. II teams (301 teams in Div. II). The Lady Chaps, as a team, leads the nation with 106 blocks. In her career, Bruffey has a program and conference record 339 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 (1,458, 13th), field goals (534, eighth) and double-doubles (20, 19th).   
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT RSU
• The Hillcats are 4-9 on the season and 0-2 in conference play this season. All their wins have come at home, where they are 4-2 this season. They are riding a four-game win losing skid and have lost eight of their last nine games after starting the season 3-1.
• The Heartland Conference Preseason Poll selected RSU to finish eighth. They are currently 0-2 this season in conference play and went 3-13 in conference play last season. They have a six-game losing streak in conference play carrying over from last season.
• The Hillcats leads the Heartland Conference in fewest turnovers with 233 in 13 games this season (17.9). 
• Desiree Nelson ranks second in the Heartland Conference in three-point field goals with 32, and her 42.7% shooting from downtown leads the conference and is 41st nationally. 
• Behind LCU's Tess Bruffey in blocks in the Heartland Conference is Lauren Schuldt, who has 26 blocks on the season (31st nationally). 
 
THE SERIES AGAINST RSU
LCU has a 16-5 advantage in the all-time series after sweeping the season series last season. LCU has won 12 of the last 13 meetings (RSU has one win in the series since 2010-2011 season), including the last nine. RSU's last win was a 78-70 win on Feb. 14, 2013. LCU is 7-3 all-time in Claremore, Okla. in the series.
 
PRIOR MEETING VS. RSU
Feb. 9, 2017 (Claremore, Okla.): LCU 60 - RSU 33
Tess Bruffey (21 points) and Hannah Harbin (17 points) combined for 38 points and Lubbock Christian University outscored Rogers State 27-8 in the third quarter to surge to a 60-33 Heartland Conference road win at Claremore Expo Center.
 
Bruffey and Harbin's numbers combined to outscore a Rogers State squad that combined for only 33 points off a 22.4% shooting performance (13/58). The Hillcats were a miserable 0-for-14 from three-point range, marking the first time an LCU opponent has been successful from three-point range since BYU-Hawaii went without a three-point field goal on Nov. 28, 2013. RSU's 33 points is the lowest LCU has allowed since holding Texas Permian Basin to 33 points on Mar. 3, 2016 at the Heartland Conference Tournament in Tulsa, Okla. The last time LCU has held an opponent to 33 points or less on the road was Jan. 17, 2009 in a 69-31 road win at St. Gregory's.
 
Neither team was able to find any offense early. Bruffey made LCU's first field goal attempt, but LCU followed missing their next seven attempts and the two teams opened a combined 2-of-15 in the game. The teams combined for 11 first-quarter points, with LCU shooting 15.4% (2-of-13) and RSU going 10.5% (2-of-19) in the opening frame, as LCU led 7-4 at the quarter's end.
 
Teams doubled their first quarter field goal totals in the second quarter and LCU led 18-13 at the half, with Bruffey doing most of the work. She had 11 points, seven blocks and five rebounds in the first half. Five of the seven blocks came in the first quarter.
 
LCU came out on fire in the third quarter and it was an inferno compared to the first half. The Lady Chaps, who had six field goals in the first half, had six field goals in the opening 5:30 of the third quarter. LCU used a 26-3 over a span of 8:24 beginning with 6:47 left in the third quarter to pull away to a 51-23 lead with 8:23 left in the fourth quarter. They outscored RSU 27-8 in the third quarter and 15-12 in the fourth quarter (42-20 in the half) off 55.6% shooting (15/27) in the half.
 
Bruffey finished the game 8-of-16 from the field and matched a career high with three three-pointers. She co-led the team in rebounds (seven alongside Olivia Robertson) and led all players with 21 points and seven blocks. She only played eight minutes in the second half, as no LCU starter played more than 28 minutes in the game. Harbin was explosive in the second half, scoring 14 of her career-high 17 points in the second half in just 10 minutes of work in the half off 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 5-of-5 shooting from the free-throw line. Bailey Haist joined Bruffey and Harbin in double figures with 10 points. RSU's Lauren Schuldt led the Hillcats with 15 points and nine rebounds. She scored nine of her 15 points in the fourth quarter.