LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (7-4, 0-0 Heartland)
at WESTERN WASHINGTON (6-2, 2-0 Great Northwest)
Monday, December 17 – 9:30 PM CT
WECU Court at Carver Gym (Bellingham, Wash.)
Radio: KJTV 100.7 FM "The Score"
All-Time Series: No prior meetings
 
TO THE NORTHWEST
Lubbock Christian University remains seeking their first road win of the season Monday, as they head to Bellingham, Wash. to face Western Washington, the host school of the Viking Holiday Hoops Classic. Monday's contest will serve as a road game and Tuesday's contest against Simon Fraser is a neutral site tilt. The Lady Chaps are 0-3 in road play this season and are coming off a 66-62 loss at Cameron on Dec. 8. LCU has fallen to 2-4 over their last six games. Monday's game is the third game of four straight games away from home.  
 
A LOOK BACK AT THEIR LAST GAME
LCU overcame an eight-point fourth quarter deficit with a 15-0 run, only to let a seven-point lead slip away in the final four minutes, as the Lady Chaparrals remained winless on the road (0-3) with a 66-62 loss at Cameron Dec. 8 inside Aggie Gym.

Trailing 49-41 with 8:11 remaining in the fourth quarter, LCU ended a 5-0 Cameron run and overcame their largest deficit of the game with a 15-0 run to take a 56-49 lead for LCU's first and largest lead of the game. The Lady Chaps run covered a span of 4:02 and they were 6-of-7 from the field in the span, with five of the points coming from Bobbi Chitsey.

Cameron entered the game ranking second nationally in three-pointers per game (10.9) and had five three-pointers in the contest heading into the fourth quarter. The Aggies three-point offense came alive in the fourth quarter when they needed it the most. Natalie Halbleib hit her first three-pointer of the game with four minutes remaining in the game to end LCU's 15-0 run. Ava Battese followed with back-to-back three-pointers, and her first three-pointers of the game tied the game at 60-60 with 1:06 left. LCU regained the lead with 34 seconds left, as Allie Schulte received a backdoor-feed from Chitsey and played it in off the glass for a 62-60 advantage.

The Aggies committed an inbounds violation on the ensuing possession following Schulte's field goal, giving LCU the basketball. Caitlyn Cunyus' inbounds for the Lady Chaps deflected off the bottom of the backboard and Cameron took over the possession, leading to Halbleib nailing a three-pointer to take a 63-62 lead with 26 seconds left. Olivia Robertson missed a jumper with 18 seconds left, leading to LCU fouling Battese to place her at the line. She split the trip and LCU trailed 64-62 with an inbounds set with 10.5 seconds remaining. LCU got the ball to Robertson, who had a good inside look, but her runner in the paint went in-and-out with five seconds left. Parfitt McNair was fouled and she hit both free-throws to seal the win.

The Lady Chaps had overcome two eight-point deficits in the game. Cameron opened the game with a 5-0 run and never trailed for the opening 34:25 of the game. Both teams shot at least 50% in the first quarter (CU was 8-of-15, 53.3%) and the Aggies led 19-18 after the first quarter. LCU went the first 5:04 of the second quarter without a field goal and fell behind 24-19. A 6-1 Cameron run extended their lead to 33-25 before LCU closed out the half on a 4-0 run to place the Cameron lead to 33-29 at the half.

LCU rallied back with a 6-0 run in the third quarter to tie the game at 35-35 for the first of three occurrences the score would be tied in the quarter. The Lady Chaps never took the lead in the quarter and Cameron's Maighan Hedge connected on two straight three-pointers to give the Aggies a 47-41 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Cameron finished the game 39.1% (9-of-23) from three-point range in the game, closing the game making six of their last nine attempts (67%) spanning the final 11:37 of the game (they were 3-of-14, 21.4%, in the game before Hedge's two straight makes started their 6-of-9 stretch to end the game). Hedge made three of Cameron's three-pointers and finished the game with 11 points. Lejha Smith led the Aggies with 12 points and Halbleib added 10 points.

LCU was led by a game-high 16-point performance from Olivia Robertson. LCU also received a season-high 14 points from Chitsey, who led LCU with seven rebounds.

ON THE ROAD
The Lady Chaps are 0-3 in true road games this season. Olivia Robertson leads LCU in away contests with average of 21.3 points per game. Maddi Chitsey also averages double figures in points away from home (10.3). LCU has been plagued by turnovers on the road.  They have committed 71 turnovers (23.7) and have been outscored 91-26 in points-off-turnovers in their combined three road games (an average of 33.3 - 8.7 per road game). The 0-3 road start is their worst road start since opening the 2016-17 season 0-5 in road games.
 
NO FOUL PLAY
The Lady Chaps rank 28th in the nation in fouls per game, with an average of 15.1 fouls per game. Fouls have led LCU to averaging 13.0 points a game from the free-throw line (opponents are averaging 11.0 points per game from the line). The Lady Chaps have shot over 80% from the free-throw line in six games this season and rank 38^th nationally with a mark of 74.9% on the season. Olivia Robertson leads the team (of qualified attempts), shooting 82.6% (38/46) from the line to rank second in the conference. Kailin Davis does not qualify among conference and national leaders, but is 15-of-17 (88.2%) from the line this season.
 
FROM THE FIELD
The Lady Chaps rank 13^th nationally in field goal shooting percentage, with a mark of 47.1%. LCU has shot at least 41.9% in all but one game this season and have hit the .500 plateau on three occasions. They are shooting 47.9% on the road, with a 55.4% mark inside the arc.
 
SISTER CHRISTIAN
On Nov.10, CSU-Pueblo marked the first time in LCU program history in which a pair of sisters tallied double figures, as LCU received double-digit point production from Olivia Robertson, Juliana Robertson, Bobbi Chitsey and Maddi Chitsey. LCU has three sisters on the squad, and Saturday marked the first game this season in which all three sets of sisters played in the same game.
 
LENDING A HELPING HAND
LCU has four players with at least an average of 2.0 assists per game.  Allie Schulte leads the team with 42 assists (3.8 per game), with Olivia Robertson (23, 2.1), Bobbi Chitsey (2.1) and Caitlyn Cunyus (2.3) also providing into the ball distribution. LCU averages 15.2 assists (second in the Heartland Conference) on 24.4 field goals per game.  LCU has a conference leading 167 assists, ranking 23rd nationally in the category.
 
BOARD GAMES
The Lady Chaps rank eighth in the Heartland Conference in rebounds per game (32.6), but lead the Heartland Conference in rebounding margin with a mark of 4.5. Olivia Robertson leads LCU with 66 rebounds (6.0 per game).
 
DOWNTOWN
The Lady Chaps rank 14th nationally with 90 three-pointers on the season and is sixth with a shooting mark of 41.5% from long range. Allie Schulte is third nationally, hitting three-pointers at a pace of 55.0% on the season (22/40), with 22 three-pointers ranking 86^th nationally.
 
FIVE FACTS ABOUT WWU
- Western Washington is 6-2 after an 63-57 home win over Montana State Billings on Dec. 1. The win has extended their win streak to five games.
- The Vikings went 12-16 last season, with an 8-12 record in the Great Northwest Athletics Conference.
- WWU is preseason picked to finish tied for third (with Simon Fraser) in the GNAC this season. They are currently 2-0 in conference play following wins over Simon Fraser and MSU Billings.    
- Western Washington is 4-1 in Carver Gym this season, with an all-time 466-83 (.849) record in the arena. Head coach Carmen Dolf is 272-50 (.849) in the venue.  
- The Vikes average rank third nationally with a 13.8 per game rebounding margin. Their 45.5 rebounds per game ranks 18^th nationally. Anna Schwecke leads the GNAC and ranks 48^th nationally with 9.5 rebounds per game.
 
THE SERIES AGAINST WWU
Monday's meeting marks the first scheduled meeting between the two programs all-time. In addition, LCU has never faced a Washington based university or played on Washington soil. LCU is 1-1 all-time against current GNAC members. The last time LCU played in a Pacific time location was Nov. 19, 2011 (at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif.).