LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (14-4, 4-0 Heartland)
at ST. EDWARD'S (9-9, 1-3 Heartland)
Thursday, January 24 - 5:30 PM
Recreation & Convocation Center (Austin, Texas)
Radio: 100.7 The Score
All-Time Series: LCU leads 11-6
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CAPITAL WEEK
Lubbock Christian University hits a pair of capital cities this week, returning to the road for Heartland Conference stops at St. Edward's in Austin, Texas Thursday before a trip to Oklahoma City, Okla. Saturday for a tilt with Oklahoma Christian. The Lady Chaparrals take a seven-game win streak on the road, where they have claimed wins in their last three road contests. LCU's seven-game win streak includes a 4-0 start in Heartland Conference action, which has LCU as the only 4-0 team in the conference standings (Newman, at 3-0, is the only other unbeaten team in conference play).   

SATURDAY SUMMARY
LCU shot 69.2% from the field in the second half and received 46 points off the bench, as the Lady Chaps received a combined 27 points from Maddi (15 points) and Bobbi (12 points) Chitsey en route to an 86-46 Heartland Conference victory over Arkansas - Fort Smith (UAFS) Saturday afternoon inside Rip Griffin Center.
 
Maddi Chitsey nearly had a double-double in her 19 minutes of play. She led all scorers with 15 points and nearly completed a double-double with nine rebounds, a career-high five rebounds and three blocks. Nine of Chitsey's point total came in the third quarter, which is a quarter LCU was 9-of-14 (69.2%) from the field.
 
The Lady Chaps defense forced 19 turnovers and had 13 steals, which led to a 29-8 scoring advantage in points-off-turnovers. Allie Schulte led LCU with three steals. Four Lady Chaps finished in double figures in scoring. Bobbi Chitsey (12), Ashton Duncan (12) and Madelyn Turner (10) joined Maddi Chitsey in the balanced scoring effort. LCU was 54.1% from the field (33/61), topping 50% for a fifth time this season and for a second consecutive game. They were 10-of-23 (43.5%) from three-point range.
 
UAFS (5-12, 2-2) was led by Ellie Lehne, who finished with 14 points. The Lions were 32% (16/50) from the field in the contest, shooting 29.3% (12/41) inside the arc. The few bright spots for UAFS was their shooting at the free-throw line. After opening the game 1-of-3 from the free-throw line, the Lady Lions went 9-of-10 the rest of the way to finish 76.9% (10/13) from the charity stripe.
 
The Lady Chaps improved to 11-1 all-time against UAFS (fourth straight win in the series) and are 6-0 all-time at home against UAFS (three of the six wins have been by margins of at least 40 points).

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Lubbock Christian is holding opponents to 44.3 points per game in conference and 54.4 per game overall this season, which ranks 12^th nationally. The defensive efforts has led to LCU averaging a margin of victory of 17.3 points per game, which ranks 15^th nationally. The Lady Chaps have a 36.0 scoring margin advantage per game in conference play.

NO FOUL PLAY
The Lady Chaps rank 13th in the nation in fouls per game, with a conference-leading average of 14.3 fouls per game. Fouls have led LCU to outscoring their opponents 12.8 – 9.8 in points a game from the free-throw line. The Lady Chaps have shot over 80% from the free-throw line in eight games this season and rank 25^th nationally with a mark of 75.2% on the season (second in the Heartland Conference). Olivia Robertson leads the team (of qualified attempts), shooting 84.5% (60/71) from the line to rank second in the conference. 

FROM THE FIELD
Lubbock Christian continues to rank in the top-20 nationally in shooting, ranking 10th nationally with a 47.2% field goal shooting percentage. LCU has shot at least 41.9% in all but three games this season and have hit the .500 plateau on five occasions, including their last two games. They are shooting 46.5% this season in road contests, shooting at least 48% in their last two road games.

SISTER CHRISTIAN
On Nov.10, the Lady Chaps game against 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 Dec. 8 marked the first game this season in which all three sets of sisters played in the same game. Dec. 10 at Texas A&M International, marked the first time all six sisters contributed at least a point in the same contest. Last Thursday against Rogers State, all six scored at least one point, marking the first time the occurrence occurred at home.

LENDING A HELPING HAND
LCU has five players with at least an average of 1.9 assists per game, with three averaging at least 2.0 assists per game. Allie Schulte leads the team with 57 assists (3.2 per game), with Caitlyn Cunyus (2.7) and Olivia Robertson (41, 2.3) also playing a role in the ball distribution averaging at least 2.0 assists per game. Maddi Chitsey and Bobbi Chitsey are each averaging 1.9 assists per game. LCU averages 15.8 assists (third in the Heartland Conference) on 25.3 field goals per game. LCU has 284 assists (second in conference), ranking 20th nationally in the category.

ROAD JOURNAL
The Lady Chaps are 3-3 in true road games this season, winning their prior three road tests. Olivia Robertson leads LCU in away contests with average of 19.0 points per game. LCU had been plagued by turnovers on the road. Prior to their Dec. 17 victory at Western Washington, LCU had committed 71 turnovers (23.7 per game) and had been outscored 91-26 in points-off-turnovers on the road. (an average of 30.3 - 8.7 per road game). Since then, in their last three road games, they have a forced their opponents into 62 turnovers (20.7 per game) and have limited themselves to 32 turnovers (10.7 per game), which has them outscoring opponents 66-27 in points-off-turnovers in the span (average advantage of 22.0 - 9.0 per game). Combining all road games this season, LCU has committed 103 turnovers (17.2 per game) and have been outscored 118-89 in points-off-turnovers (an average of 19.7 - 14.8 per road game).

WHAT ABOUT BOBBI
Bobbi Chitsey has been in a scoring rhythm for the Lady Chaps.  Chitsey, who averaged 5.3 points per game over a six-game stretch prior to Dec. 8, is averaging 13.5 points per game in the past eight games (beginning Dec. 8) and has posted double figures in each of the past six games. Her offensive numbers have helped her bump her average scoring to 10.1 points per game, placing her as one of four Lady Chaps currently averaging double figures.

HAVING HEART
LCU, winners of 22 straight conference games, is the only 4-0 team in the Heartland Conference this season (Newman is second in the standings at 3-0). The Lady Chaps 4-0 start in conference has been led by Bobbi Chitsey, who has an average of 11.8 points per conference game. Ashton Duncan joins Chitsey in double figures in points with 10.8 per game. LCU has a 64-43 advantage in turnovers in conference contests, leading to a 85-47 scoring advantage in points-off-turnovers. They are also benefiting off an average advantage of 13.5 – 3.2 second-chance-points per conference game and their bench averaging 38.0 points per conference game. The Lady Chaps are shooting 51.1% from the field in conference and shooting 43.6% from three-point range, with a 41-15 advantage in three-pointers. Opponents are 32.7% from the field and 32.7% from three-point range. LCU's defense has a 43-12 advantage in steals in conference games, with Allie Schulte leading the team with 12 (3.0 per game).
 
ADDING THE NUMBERS
Lubbock Christian women's basketball head coach Steve Gomez eclipsed a milestone Saturday inside Rip Griffin Center. Saturday's game against Arkansas – Fort Smith marked his 500^th career game to coach the Lady Chaparrals, which is the most in program history. Gomez, the former Chaparral cager in his 16^th career season, has a 379-121 (75.8%) all-time record through 500 games.  

BOARD GAMES
The Lady Chaps rank seventh in the Heartland Conference in rebounds per game (33.6, which ranks 277^th of 301 Division II programs), but they lead the Heartland Conference in rebounding margin with a mark of 6.1 (42^nd nationally). Olivia Robertson leads LCU with 111 rebounds (6.2 per game). LCU has only been out-rebounded once over the prior 15 games and they have a +50 rebounding margin through four conference games (+12.5 per conference game).

DOWNTOWN
The Lady Chaps rank 19th nationally with 148 three-pointers on the season and is second with a shooting mark of 40.9% from long range. Allie Schulte is in the top-10 nationally, hitting three-pointers at a pace of 51.7% on the season (31/60), with 31 three-pointers ranking fifth in the conference. Madelyn Turner is 5-of-8 from three-point range (62.5%) in conference play, with Ashton Duncan leading the team with 10 three-pointers in conference (2.5 per game).

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT SEU
- The Hilltoppers are 9-9 overall on the season and they dropped to 1-3 in Heartland Conference play after dropping their last two games. They opened the season 8-1, but have since gone 1-8.
- SEU completed the 2017-18 season with a 11-17 overall mark, with a 4-10 record in conference play. Their season came to a close with an opening round loss to UAFS at the Heartland Conference Tournament. They were preseason picked No.6 in this season's conference preseason poll.
- St. Edward's head coach J.J. Riehl is sitting on 99 career wins, with her next win resulting in her 100^th.  She is 99-87 over her career.
- The Hilltoppers rank 15^th nationally with a conference-leading 80 blocks this season. They have three players in the top-10 in the conference in blocks, led by Sammie Dufek, who has 23 blocks to rank fifth in the conference.
- LCU's conference-leading three-point shooting squad faces a Hilltoppers squad that leads the conference in three-point shooting defense. Their opponents are shooting 27.4% from long range. They have only allowed an opponent to shoot more than six three-pointers in a game once this season, and that was in their season opener in which they allowed seven three-pointers.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH SEU
LCU has won 10 of the last 12 meetings and leads the all-time series lead at 11-6. The Lady Chaps swept the season series last season, with the previous meeting resulting in a 65-52 win in Austin, Texas (Feb. 24, 2018). The two teams have played in the championship game of the conference tournament in 2016 and 2017 (teams have split at the conference tournament). LCU is 5-5 all-time against SEU in Austin.
 
PREVIOUS MEETING VS. SEU
Feb. 24, 2018 (Austin, Texas): LCU 65 - SEU 52
At Recreation & Convocation Center, No.2 Lubbock Christian University received a season-high 29 points from Tess Bruffey and defeated St. Edward's University 65-52..
 
The game was never in danger for Lubbock Christian, but a spirited Hilltoppers squad celebrating "Senior Day" played the Lady Chaps tight throughout the contest.  LCU opened the game with a 4-0 run and converted successfully on their first three field goal attempts, but then followed with five straight misses. Isabel Hernandez had nine points for SEU in the first quarter and helped the Hilltoppers to a 14-11 lead with 1:19 left in the opening quarter.  LCU, who has trailed once at the end of the first quarter this season, responded with a three-pointer from Bruffey and a layup from Allie Schulte to lead 16-14 at the end of the quarter.
 
Bruffey, who led LCU with eight points in the first quarter, opened the second quarter with a three-pointer to cap an 8-0 run and provide LCU a 19-14 lead.  The LCU senior converted an and-one three-point play later in the quarter to give LCU a 22-16 lead, but Lexi Cunningham sparked a 5-0 SEU run with a three-pointer and LCU's lead was cut to 22-21. LCU never let go of the lead and Bruffey finished with 14 points in the half to give LCU a 34-28 lead.
 
Bruffey had LCU's first eight points of the third quarter and LCU kept their distance. The Hilltoppers went the final 2:56 of the third quarter without a field goal and LCU extended the lead to 52-39 to close the quarter. The span without a field goal for SEU lasted 5:04 and LCU built the lead to 54-39 with a field goal by Bobbi Chitsey, who led LCU in the fourth quarter with seven points.  The Hilltoppers hung around but due in part to 13 offensive rebounds in the second half leading to nine more field goal attempts by SEU in the fourth quarter (12 more for the half). LCU was 6-of-11 (54.5%) from the field in the fourth quarter and SEU was 5-of-20 (25%).
 
SEU had 17 offensive boards in the game and out-rebounded LCU 37-31 in the game. The offensive boards led to SEU outscoring LCU 12-6 in second chance scoring. They received 15 points from Hernandez and 12 points from Cunningham.  LCU was strong offensively in the paint, where they outscored SEU 40-20. The Lady Chaps were 23-of-38 (60.5%) inside the arc and shot 51.9% (27/52) overall from the field. Bruffey was 11-of-18 from the field in her 29-point performance. LCU also received 10 points from Bobbi Chitsey.