No.2 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (19-1, 8-0)
at ST. MARY'S (10-11, 4-4)
Thursday, February 1, 2018 - 5:30 p.m.
Bill Greehey Arena (San Antonio, Texas)
Radio: 100.7 The Score
All-Time Series: LCU Leads 12-3
|
 
ROAD TRIP PART TWO
No.2 Lubbock Christian University continues the second half of a four-game road trip with a stop in San Antonio, Texas Thursday to face St. Mary's before progressing to Laredo, Texas Saturday to meet Texas A&M International for their southernmost trip of the season. The road trip has already included their northernmost (Wichita, Kan.) and easternmost (Fort Smith, Ark.) road stops of the season. Wednesday, Newman defeated Arkansas - Ft. Smith, placing each team with three losses in conference play (NU 6-3, UAFS 8-3), while LCU sits atop the Heartland Conference standings with an 8-0 conference record (19-1 overall). LCU's magic number sits at "3" in regards to claiming at least a share of the regular season title.    
 
LOOK AT THEIR LAST GAME
Tess Bruffey was 7-of-9 shooting inside the arc to spearheaded a Lubbock Christian University squad that was 64.7% (22/34) inside the perimeter, and her 21-point performance led the No.2 Lady Chaparrals to a 62-54 Heartland Conference road victory over Arkansas – Fort Smith Saturday afternoon inside Stubblefield Center.
 
For a second consecutive road game, LCU was 50% from the field in the game. They were 24-of-48 as a squad, with 22 of the 24 field goals tallied inside the arc. Bruffey and Caitlyn Cunyus (4-of-6) combined to go 11-of-15 (73.3%) inside the arc.
 
The Lady Chaps hot hand started off the contest. LCU hit their first three shot attempts and completed the quarter 8-of-11 from the field (7-of-9 inside the arc).  The stat line is misleading in regards to the type of quarter is was, as there were five lead changes in the quarter. UAFS twice led by three points, including a 14-11 lead with 3:27 remaining, but LCU responded with an 8-0 run. LCU led 19-16 at the close of the quarter, led by nine points in the quarter from Bruffey.
 
Cunyus nailed a three-pointer in the opening minute of the second quarter and Bruffey converted on a feed from Allie Schulte to give LCU a 24-18 lead, but it did not hold up. Ellie Lehne tallied five straight points and sparked a 7-0 Lady Lions run to help UAFS regain the lead at 25-24. There would be four lead changes in the second quarter, and a field goal by Cunyus with 1:21 left in the half helped LCU end the half on a 6-0 run for a 36-29 lead. Bruffey was 5-of-7 from the field in the first half (4-of-5 inside the arc) and led LCU in the half with 13 points. 
 
LCU, 16-of-26 (61.5%) from the field and 14-of-20 (70%) inside the arc in the first half, would not have the same success shooting from the field in the second half. They were 8-of-22 (36.4%) from the field in the second half. For the opening 3:40 of the third quarter, LCU was 0-of-3 from the field with three turnovers tossed into the mix. The disarray allowed UAFS to go on a 7-0 run, with a three-pointer by Tamara Gulley tying the game up 36-36. The score was tied on two occasions in the quarter before Cunyus had two of her six points in the half to ignite an 8-0 run for a 44-36 advantage. LCU led 47-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Lady Chaps built the lead to 51-42 with 7:26 remaining in the game, but UAFS was not done with making a final charge. Micayla Haynes hit a three pointer to cap a 5-0 run in a span of 1:25 to cut LCU's lead to 51-47. Delaney Gaddis, with her third career double-figure outing (11 points to match a season high), converted on one of her two old-fashioned three-point plays in the contest to help LCU go on a 9-0 run and build a 60-47 lead as 1:09 remained.
 
Bruffey's 21 points led all scorers and she was one of three Lady Chaps in double figures. Cunyus, who had 20 points in the prior contest against UAFS, finished with 16 points to join Bruffey and Gaddis in double figures. Bruffey led LCU with eight rebounds and moved past Carol Hise (732, 1990-1994) into fourth place on LCU's career rebounds list (739). UAFS led LCU in points off turnovers (13-9) and in second chance points (9-2). They were led by Tayla Taylor, who registered 14 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double performance. The Lady Lions were 22-of-64 (34.4%) from the field. LCU outscored UAFS 12-6 in points from the free-throw line.
 
MARGINS
LCU leads the Heartland Conference in is rebounding margin (21st nationally), with an average of 7.5 more rebounds per game over their opposition, and they rank 10th nationally in scoring margin (average a win margin of 19.5 points per game).
 
THAT'S FOUL
LCU has moved into 11th nationally in fouls per game with a low of 11.0 fouls per contest. The fouls have led to LCU having a 14.6 - 9.5 scoring advantage over their opponents from the free-throw line. Tess Bruffey leads LCU averaging 3.8 points per game from the free-throw line. On the road, LCU has a 17.6 - 8.8 scoring advantage, with Bruffey averaging 4.8 points per game from the line. Caitlyn Cunyus (17/18), Olivia Robertson (1820) and Bobbi Chitsey (12/14) have all taken advantage of their free-throw opportunities on the road, combining for a 90.4% (47/52) free-throw shooting mark on the road.
 
SECOND QUARTER SURGING
In LCU's 19 wins, they have faced deficits in 11 of them and their largest deficits in all 11 occasions have come in the first quarter. Despite the stat, LCU has not trailed at the end of the first quarter in any of their 19 wins.  LCU has overcome the deficits and have surged in the second quarters of games. The Lady Chaps are averaging 21.8 points per game in the second quarter over their prior eight games and averaging a point advantage of 21.8 - 10.9 against their opponents in the span. On Jan. 18, LCU held St. Edward's to one point the entire second quarter, outscoring the Hilltoppers 25-1 in the quarter.
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
Updated national rankings came out Tuesday afternoon, and the Lady Chaparrals remained at No.2 in both the D2SIDA and WBCA NCAA Div. II Women's Basketball Top-25 Poll. The only team they are behind is No.1 Ashland, who is the only team to defeat LCU this season. The No.2 ranking matches their best ranking this season in each poll.
 
PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES
LCU leads the Heartland Conference and ranks eighth nationally in field goal percentage, shooting 47.2% from the field. They have shot at least 50% in their prior two games and have completed the task nine times this season. Their season high stretch is a three-game stretch with at least 50% shooting from the field. LCU also leads the nation in field goal defense, holding the opposition to 32.0% shooting on the season. Their allowance of 52.5 points per game ranks second in the nation.
 
PERIMETER PLAY
Despite ranking sixth in the Heartland in three-point field goal attempts, LCU leads the conference in three-point field goals made per game (7.0), as they have the 11th best three-point shooting percentage in the nation at 37.4%. On the other end, LCU is holding opponents to a 28.5% shooting percentage from long range.
 
BLOCKING IT OUT
Tess Bruffey, who ranked second nationally last season in blocks per game (3.9), leads the nation with 84 blocks on the season. Her 84 blocks (fifth highest single-season mark in program history) come at a rate of 4.2 per game (second nationally) and she has more blocks than all but 44 NCAA Div. II teams (301 teams in Div. II). The Lady Chaps, as a team, rank second in the nation with 134 blocks. In her career, Bruffey has a program and conference record 356 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 (1,539, 13th), field goals (564, ninth) and double-doubles (22, 18th).  
 
ROAD WARRIORS
LCU is 5-0 in road play this season and have produced some defensive minded performances. In two of their five road games, LCU has held the home team to under 23% shooting from the field. They held Texas A&M Commerce to a 21.7% from the field on Nov. 13 and Rogers State to a 22% shooting mark on Jan. 10. LCU has outscored opponents by average of 68.6 - 50.4 on the road this season, holding the home team to a 30.7% shooting mark. The Lady Chaps have a 88-44 advantage in points from the free-throw line on the road as well. Tess Bruffey leads LCU on the road averaging 18.8 points per game, with Caitlyn Cunyus contributing 10.8 points per game on the road.
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT StMU
• The Rattlers are 10-11 on the season and 4-4 in conference play this season. They are coming off a 59-52 win over St. Edward's (Jan. 24), which ended a two-game losing skid and placed them with a 4-4 record at home.
• The Heartland Conference Preseason Poll had St. Mary's fourth, with one first-place vote in the mix. They are 4-4 in conference play this season and tied for fourth place.
• These two teams have seen a lot of each other this season, and not just in head-to-head play.  Outside of their prior meeting (Jan.6 in Lubbock), St. Mary's participated in the Arbor Hotels Classic in Lubbock and LCU participated in the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic this season.  LCU's only loss this season (to Ashland) was played at StMU's Bill Greehey Arena.
• StMU ranks 36th nationally and is second in the conference in personal fouls per game (behind LCU), averaging a low of 15.8 per contest.
• Arysia Porter leads the conference in minutes played per game (34.4) and is 22nd nationally in overall minutes played (722). She also ranks 12th nationally in steals with 61 on the season.
 
THE SERIES AGAINST StMU
LCU leads the all-times series 12-3 over StMU. LCU is 9-2 against the Rattlers since joining the Heartland. Last season, the two teams split the regular season series, with the home team winning each contest, and then the Lady Chaps defeated StMU 70-51 in the Semifinals of the Heartland Conference Tournament in Tulsa, Okla. LCU has won three straight meetings following a 76-42 win on Jan. 6 in Lubbock.
 
PRIOR MEETING VS. StMU
Jan. 6, 2018 (Lubbock, Texas): LCU 76 - StMU 42
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 inside Rip Griffin Center.
 
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%).