ROGERS STATE (8-13, 3-6)
at No.2 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (21-1, 10-0)
Saturday,February 10, 2018 - 1 p.m.
Rip Griffin Center (Lubbock, Texas)
Radio: Double T 97.3FM    
All-Time Series: LCU Leads 17-5
 
UNO
No.2 Lubbock Christian University returns home from their four-game road trip for their final home stand of the regular season, which begins Saturday hosting Rogers State University. LCU needs either a win or a Arkansas - Fort Smith loss (hosting St. Edward's) to claim at least a share of the Heartland Conference regular season title. If both occur, LCU claims the title outright. If either happen, LCU will clinch the No.1-seed for the Heartland Conference Tournament in Tulsa, Okla. It would mark LCU's fifth all-time conference title, third Heartland Conference regular season title and fourth time LCU has finished atop the Heartland standings (LCU was unable to claim the regular season title despite finishing first in 2014-2015 due to transitioning to NCAA Div. II membership status).     
 
LOOK AT THEIR LAST GAME
The Lady Chaparrals held Texas A&M International to a 29.1% shooting mark and claimed a 69-46 win behind a 15-point performance from Olivia Robertson Saturday in Laredo, Texas.
 
LCU, who opened Thursday's win at St. Mary's on a 7-0 run, started Saturday's contest on a 9-0 run. The task was completed on 3-of-3 shooting in a span of 1:28. Tantashea Giger ended the run with a layup (2:08 into the game), but LCU followed with a 8-0 run to go up 17-2. Maddi Chitsey and Kailin Davis led the first quarter surge for LCU, each with five points. All of Davis' points came from the free-throw line, as LCU, who led 19-6 at the conclusion of the first quarter, had 10 of their 19 points in the quarter from the free-throw line. TAMIU was whistled for eight fouls in the quarter, leading to 15 free-throw attempts for LCU.
 
A Dustdevil squad that shot 18.2% (2-of-11) in the first quarter woke up in the second quarter.  TAMIU made eight of their 16 field goals in the game during the second quarter. They opened the quarter on a 6-0 run and making four of their first five attempts. Vanessa Oyola connected on a trio of three-pointers in the second quarter and helped cut LCU's lead to 23-17 with 6:42 remaining in the half. Julia Hanni was able to score a bucket at the horn for TAMIU to cut LCU's lead at 35-25 to enter the halftime.
 
Chitsey and Davis co-led LCU with five points each. LCU had a 17-2 advantage in free-throw attempts in the half and converted on 12 to provide LCU a 10-point advantage in points from the line. Six different Lady Chaps had at least two free-throw attempts in the half.
 
LCU gradually started to pull away late in the third quarter with a 13-4 scoring run. Allie Schulte led LCU offensively in the quarter with five points, including a field goal at the horn to give LCU a 52-35 lead heading into the final quarter. The Lady Chaps were 5-of-7 from inside the arc in the quarter.
 
TAMIU, shooting 26.1% (6/23) in the second half (1-of-9 from three-point range), closed the game connecting on two of their 11 field goal attempts in the fourth quarter. Olivia Robertson had seven of her game high 15 points in the fourth quarter, as LCU led as much as 26 points in the final quarter.
 
LCU, shooting 45.7% (21/46) from the field, held TAMIU to 29.1% (16/55) shooting from the field. The Lady Chaps outscored TAMIU 21-10 from the free-throw line on 21-of-29 shooting from the stripe. LCU also outscored TAMIU 20-6 in points off turnovers.
 
Robertson was 4-of-6 from the field and went 7-for-7 from the free-throw line for her 15 points, which matched a season high. It marked the fourth time in her LCU career (first this season) she led LCU in scoring. Chitsey was 5-of-6 from the field in her 13-point effort. Tess Bruffey led LCU with 10 rebounds. TAMIU was led by Oyola, who registered 12 points (all from downtown).
 
MARGINS
LCU leads the Heartland Conference in is rebounding margin (27th  nationally), with an average of 7.0 more rebounds per game over their opposition, and they rank seventh nationally in scoring margin (average a win margin of 19.9 points per game).
 
THAT'S FOUL
LCU has moved into ninth nationally in fouls per game with a low of 14.1 fouls per contest. The fouls have led to LCU having a 14.8 - 9.3 scoring advantage over their opponents from the free-throw line. Tess Bruffey leads LCU averaging 3.7 points per game from the free-throw line.
 
FIRST THINGS FIRST
In LCU's 21 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 20 wins.
 
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 for a third consecutive week. 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 47.0% from the field. They have shot at least 50% nine times this season. Their allowance of 51.5 points per game leads in the nation.
 
PERIMETER PLAY
Despite ranking sixth in the Heartland in three-point field goal attempts, LCU ranks second in the conference in three-point field goals made per game (6.9), as they have the 19th best three-point shooting percentage in the nation at 36.9%. On the other end, LCU is holding opponents to a 28.2% shooting percentage from long range.
 
BLOCKING IT OUT
Tess Bruffey, who ranked second nationally last season in blocks per game (3.9), ranks second the nation with 87 blocks on the season. Her 87 blocks (fourth highest single-season mark in program history) come at a rate of 4.0 per game (second nationally). The Lady Chaps, as a team, rank third in the nation with 138 blocks. In her career, Bruffey has a program and conference record 359 blocks, marking her as the NCAA Div. II's active career leader (third among all levels) and its the ninth highest rate all-time in NCAA Div. II history. She also ranks on the NCAA Div. II's active career leader charts in points (1,566, 13th), field goals (573, 11th) and double-doubles (22, 21st).  
 
WHAT'S ON THE LINE
LCU became the 13th team in NCAA Division II women's basketball history to win 45 consecutive home games with their win over Oklahoma Christian on Jan. 20 (it actively leads NCAA Div. II).  If LCU extends the streak to 47 (currently at 45), they will become the 12th team to notch 47 straight home wins in NCAA Div. II history.  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. LCU has also won 47 consecutive home conference games, with their last conference home loss occurring Jan. 10, 2013 (against Oklahoma City). They are 41-0 all-time in Heartland Conference home games.
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT RSU
• The Hillcats are 8-13 on the season and 3-6 in conference play this season. All their wins have come at home, as they are 0-9 this season on the road.
• The Heartland Conference Preseason Poll selected RSU to finish eighth. They are currently 3-6 this season in conference play and went 3-13 in conference play last season. They currently occupy the seventh place spot in the standings.
• The Hillcats rank 39th nationally in three-point shooting, with a mark of 35.6% on the season.
• Desiree Nelson ranks second in the Heartland Conference in three-point field goals with 55, and her 45.8% shooting from downtown leads the conference and is ninth nationally.
• Behind LCU's Tess Bruffey in blocks in the Heartland Conference is Lauren Schuldt, who has 41 blocks on the season (46th nationally).
 
THE SERIES AGAINST RSU
LCU has a 17-5 advantage in the all-time series after  winning the previous meeting 70-38 on Jan. 10 in Claremore, Okla. LCU has won 13 of the last 14 meetings (RSU has one win in the series since 2010-2011 season), including the last 10. RSU's last win was a 78-70 win on Feb. 14, 2013. LCU is 8-2 all-time in Lubbock in the series.
 
PRIOR MEETING VS. RSU
Jan. 10, 2018 (Claremore, Okla.): LCU 70 - RSU 38
No.3/5 Lubbock Christian University held Rogers State University to six two-point field goals and Caitlyn Cunyus' 14-point performance topped a foursome of Lady Chaparrals in double-figures, as LCU marched to a 70-38 victory over Rogers State inside Expo Center Wednesday night in their first Heartland Conference road test of the season.
 
In the opening 2:23 of the game, RSU was charged up and opened the game with a 7-2 lead, as LCU was 1-of-6 from the field to start the contest. Darian Jackson hit one of two three-pointers in the opening 5:22 of the game and her trey provided RSU a 10-6 lead. RSU, 3-of-5 from the field to that point, would be held to 28 points the rest of the way and they would go 8-of-45 (17.8%) from the field in the game's remainder.
 
LCU took advantage of the dry spell, responding with a 12-0 run over the final 4:38 of the quarter to take an 18-10 lead. Olivia Robertson was the spark for LCU, scoring nine of her 11 points in the opening quarter. LCU struggled most of the night from long range, but excelled inside the arc. The second quarter was a perfect example, as they were 0-of-5 from long distance in the quarter, but 7-of-9 (77.8%) inside the perimeter. On the defensive end, they held RSU to a 1-of-9 (11.1%) shooting performance in the quarter. The Hillcats were 0-of-8 inside the arc during the quarter. Bobbi Chitsey scored six of LCU's 14 points in the quarter and she led LCU to a 32-16 halftime lead.
 
RSU did not register their second two-point field goal of the game until Ke'Aunna Johnson's layup with 3:53 remaining in the third quarter. It ended a sequence of 22 consecutive missed shots inside the perimeter for RSU. Johnson's layup ended a 6-0 LCU run in the third quarter and cut LCU's lead to 44-26. Cunyus racked up seven points in the quarter to help LCU lead 49-30 through three quarters. A 12-2 run in the fourth quarter, capped by a Emma Middleton three-pointer, helped LCU lead 65-34 with 3:12 remaining. Six different Lady Chaps had at least one field goal in the fourth quarter for LCU, who led as much as 34 points (70-36) in the game.
 
Tess Bruffey recorded her seventh double-double in the game, notching 11 rebounds and 10 points. She was not the lone player with a double-double performance, as Lauren Schuldt recorded one for RSU (11 rebounds and 10 points).  Schuldt, RSU's leading scoring, achieved hers in an aggravating fashion.  She missed her first 12 shot attempts and finished the night 1-of-14 from the field.
 
Cunyus and Bruffey were joined in double figures by Bobbi Chitsey (13 points) and Robertson (11 points). LCU was a season-best 91.7% (11-of-12) from the free-throw line and they had a 17-8 advantage in turnovers. Their eight turnovers committed was a season low and the fewest committed since Mar. 11, 2016 against Angelo State.
 
LCU was 41.5% (27/65) from the field in the game. They were 5-of-23 (21.7%) from long range and 52.4% (22/42) inside the arc. RSU finished the game 22% (11/50) from the field. They were 5-of-9 (55.6%) from downtown, but shot 14.6% (6-of-41) inside the perimeter.