LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (8-4, 0-0 Heartland)
vs. SIMON FRASER (5-3, 1-1 Great Northwest)
Tuesday, December 18 – 7:00 PM CT
WECU Court at Carver Gym (Bellingham, Wash.)
Radio: Double-T 97.3 FM
All-Time Series: SFU leads 1-0
 
GAME D-EH!
Lubbock Christian University closes out a four-game road trip and their stay in Bellingham, Wash. Tuesday facing Burnaby, British Columbia based Simon Fraser in the Viking Holiday Hoops Classic hosted at Western Washington. The contest is LCU's final game before a brief Christmas Break. The Lady Chaps are 1-3 in road play this season, as they claimed their first road win Monday night in a victory over Western Washington.  
 
MONDAY MUSINGS
Lubbock Christian University's first game ever played in Washington and against a Washington based program came Monday night inside Carver Gym, where Western Washington carried an 85% all-time win percentage. Olivia Robertson made LCU's presence felt in The Evergreen State, scoring 19 points in the second half and leading the Lady Chaparrals to a 16-3 scoring advantage in second-chance-scoring en route to a 67-54 win over WWU in the opening game of the Viking Holiday Hoops Classic.

LCU claimed their first road win of the season by producing turnovers, which is a category LCU has struggled with on the road and entered the game averaging 23.7 turnovers per road game and being outscored on an average of 33.3 - 8.7 in points off turnovers. Monday, LCU forced WWU into 27 turnovers and outscored the Vikings 23-10 in points-off-turnovers. The 27 turnovers were the most by a Lady Chaps opponent since Science & Arts (Okla.) committed 27 on Jan. 2, 2012. It was the most WWU since 27 on Dec. 29, 2017 against Alaska Fairbanks.

The Lady Chaps also excelled in the paint, where they outscored WWU 38-24 and had a 35-32 rebound advantage, with 15 offensive rebounds. It marks the first time this season a program topped the Vikings in rebounds, as the Vikings entered the game ranking third nationally rebounding margin (+13.8) and they had not had a rebound margin less than a +7.0 mark this season.

The combination of offensive rebounds and forced turnovers led LCU to not only producing a 16-3 advantage in second-chance-scoring, but also providing the Lady Chaps 18 more (62-44) field goal attempts in the game. The Lady Chaps needed the additional shot attempts, as they shot 38.7% (24/62) from the field (their second lowest mark this season) and overcame a 45.5% (20/44) shooting performance by the Vikings (WWU was 57.1% shooting inside the arc).

While LCU's offensive numbers were below their team percentages, the same could not be said for Robertson, who was 7-of-15 from the field. She was 2-of-2 from long range and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line during her performance. Her biggest buckets in the game were off three-pointers hit in the fourth quarter. LCU had entered the fourth quarter leading 49-40, but a 9-2 Vikings run cut LCU's lead to 51-49 with 6:31 remaining. The score remained 51-49 for the next 88 seconds until Robertson buried a three-pointer with 5:02 left for a 54-49 LCU lead. Robertson answered again with the game down to a one-possession game with 3:07 left, which turned a 54-51 lead into a 57-51 advantage. LCU's defense did their part, not allowing a field goal over the final 2:42, and the Lady Chaps completed the game on an 8-0 run.

The start of the game was back-and-fourth. Nearly halfway into the first quarter, LCU led 8-3, but WWU came back with a 10-4 run to end the quarter with a 13-12 lead. The Vikings never led by more than three points and LCU went on a 13-3 run to regain the lead in the second quarter with a 32-24 advantage. WWU closed the half on a 5-0 run to place LCU's lead at 32-29 for the break.

Robertson had six of LCU's first eight points to start the second half, and her free-throws 2:31 into the third quarter not only extended LCU's lead to 36-31, but it also ignited a 7-0 LCU run. LCU led as much as 49-36 (2:27 left in the third quarter) before LCU went on a 4:19 scoreless sequence.

LCU, receiving 24 points off their bench, and WWU combined to have 15 different players produce at least one field goal in the game. Kelsey Rogers (6-of-7 from the field) was WWU's only player with double-figures, scoring 14 points. The Vikings, 3-of-7 from long range in the first half, was 1-of-9 in the second half.

Robertson was one of three Lady Chaps to finish in double figures, finishing with 23 points. Maddi Chitsey, 14 points in 17 minutes off 6-of-8 shooting, and Allie Schulte (10 points) contributed into the offensive mix for LCU. Defensively, LCU had 14 steals (second highest total this season), with Bobbi Chitsey swiping a career-high five steals (second highest single game high for a Lady Chaps member this season).

NEUTRALIZING
The Lady Chaps are 1-1 in neutral site games this season. Their two prior neutral site matches came at the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic in San Antonio, Texas, where LCU defeated Kutztown before falling to No.1 Central Missouri. Allie Schulte leads LCU in scoring on the neutral playing surface, with an average of 15.5 points a contest. Olivia Robertson (13.5 points per game) also averages double-figures in neutral site contests. Her sister Juliana Robertson leads LCU with 6.0 rebounds a game.
 
NO FOUL PLAY
The Lady Chaps rank 29th in the nation in fouls per game, with an average of 15.3 fouls per game. Fouls have led LCU to averaging 13.1 points a game from the free-throw line (opponents are averaging 10.9 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 47^th nationally with a mark of 74.4% on the season. Olivia Robertson leads the team (of qualified attempts), shooting 84.9% (45/53) 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, despite shooting their second lowest shooting mark of the season Monday, continues to rank in the top-20 nationally in shooting, ranking 19^th nationally with a 46.3% field goal shooting percentage. LCU has shot at least 41.9% in all but two games this season and have hit the .500 plateau on three occasions. They are shooting 44.9% this season in neutral site contests.
 
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 44 assists (3.7 per game), with Olivia Robertson (26, 2.2), Bobbi Chitsey (2.1) and Caitlyn Cunyus (2.6) also providing into the ball distribution. LCU averages 15.1 assists (second in the Heartland Conference) on 24.3 field goals per game.  LCU has 181 assists (second in conference), ranking 18th nationally in the category.
 
BOARD GAMES
The Lady Chaps rank eighth in the Heartland Conference in rebounds per game (32.8), but lead the Heartland Conference in rebounding margin with a mark of 4.3. Olivia Robertson leads LCU with 73 rebounds (6.1 per game).
 
DOWNTOWN
The Lady Chaps rank 13th nationally with 95 three-pointers on the season and is sixth with a shooting mark of 40.9% from long range. Allie Schulte is second nationally, hitting three-pointers at a pace of 54.5% on the season (24/44), with 24 three-pointers ranking 68^th nationally.
 
FIVE FACTS ABOUT SFU
- Simon Fraser is 5-3 after a 75-63 loss Monday to Stanislaus State in Bellingham. The Clan has dropped to 1-2 in their last three games and are 2-2 in neutral site games.
- The Clan went 14-15 last season, with an 9-11 record in the Great Northwest Athletics Conference.
- SFU is preseason picked to finish tied for third (with Western Washington) in the GNAC this season. They are currently 1-1 in conference play following a loss to Western Washington and a victory over MSU Billings.    
- Simon Fraser, like LCU, is a former NAIA program and they used to join University of British Columbia as the only NAIA programs based internationally. Now members of NCAA Div. II, SFU is the only international based NCAA member.  
- The Clan rank 12^th nationally in three-pointers per game with an average of 9.5 per game. Jessica Jones, who averages 41.8% from long range, ranks sixth nationally 3.5 three-pointers per contest. Jones averages 14.6 points per game, which is second on the squad behind Sophie Swant (15.4).
 
THE SERIES AGAINST SFU
Simon Fraser has a 1-0 all-time advantage in the head-to-head series. The Clan defeated LCU on Nov. 26, 1998 (75-62) in a game part of the Flying Queens Classic in Plainview, Texas. The Lady Chaps, then members of the NAIA's Sooner Athletic Conference, opened the 1998-99 season 10-1 under Miles Watters, and their lone loss was to SFU, who were members of the NAIA's PAC West. That 1998-99 SFU squad eventually lost in the NAIA National Championship to Oklahoma City (ironically both teams ended their season with a loss to OCU that season). LCU is 2-1 all-time against current GNAC members.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING VS. SFU
November 26, 1998 (PLAINVIEW, Texas): LCU 62 – SFU 75