LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (10-4, 0-0 Heartland)
at TEXAS A&M INTERNATIONAL (0-12, 0-0 Heartland)
Thursday, January 10 - 5:30 PM
Kinesiology and Convocation Building (Laredo, Texas)
Radio: None
All-Time Series: LCU leads 12-1

THINGS STARTING OFF SOUTH FOR CONFERENCE PLAY
Lubbock Christian University opens Heartland Conference play with their southernmost conference trip, facing Texas A&M International Thursday in Laredo, Texas before facing St. Mary's Saturday in San Antonio, Texas. LCU heads to Laredo on a three-game win streak and they have played one game since Dec. 18, 2018 (a 64-48 home win on Dec. 31, 2018 against Eastern New Mexico).  

A LOOK BACK AT THEIR LAST GAME
Lubbock Christian University opened the second half on an 18-3 run and Bobbi Chitsey led the Lady Chaparrals with 14 points, as they defeated Eastern New Mexico 64-48 in a New Year's Eve contest inside Rip Griffin Center. The win extended LCU's home win streak to 57 games, as their streak is the active leading streak in NCAA Division II.

ENMU, dropping to 7-3, had their worst shooting performance against a NCAA Division II squad this season (they shot 28.3% and held to 46 points earlier this season against Div. I Abilene Christian). The Greyhounds were 30.5% (18/59) from the field and held to 48 points (they were averaging 90.8 points in their prior five games). Treyanna Clay posted a double-double in the loss with 15 points and 10 rebounds. They also received 13 points from Zamorye Cox, who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Chaps shooting performance (24/59, 40.7%) marked only the third time this season in which they shot under 41%. It was their lowest shooting performance at home this season. Bobbi Chitsey was one of three Lady Chaps in double figures, as Olivia Robertson contributed 13 points and Maddi Chitsey recorded 11 points.

OPEN HEART
Heartland Conference play opened Wednesday for Oklahoma Christian and Arkansas – Fort Smith, but the remaining Heartland Conference members open their conference slates Thursday. The opener is LCU's sixth Heartland Conference opener, after spending the prior 19 seasons in the Sooner Athletic Conference.  The Lady Chaps went 11-8 all-time in SAC openers and are 4-1 in HC openers, with a loss at St. Mary's (Dec. 31, 2016) marking their only loss in a Heartland Conference opener. They are 13-2 all-time in conference openers under head coach Steve Gomez. They have won 12 of their prior 13 consecutive conference openers.

NO FOUL PLAY
The Lady Chaps rank 17th in the nation in fouls per game, with a conference-leading average of 14.7 fouls per game. Fouls have led LCU to outscoring their opponents 13.5 – 10.6 in points a game from the free-throw line. (The Lady Chaps have shot over 80% from the free-throw line in seven games this season and rank 30^th nationally with a conference-leading mark of 75.0% on the season. Olivia Robertson leads the team (of qualified attempts), shooting 85.5% (53/62) from the line to rank second in the conference. Robertson is 25-of-28 (89.3%) over the past five combined games. Kailin Davis does not qualify among conference and national leaders, but is 16-of-19 (84.2%) from the line this season.

FROM THE FIELD
The Lady Chaps, despite shooting their second lowest shooting mark of the season on Dec. 17 (vs. Western Washington), continues to rank in the top-20 nationally in shooting, ranking 19th nationally with a 46.0% 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 three occasions. They are shooting 45.2% this season in road 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 Dec. 8 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 49 assists (3.5 per game), with Olivia Robertson (33, 2.4), Bobbi Chitsey (2.2) and Caitlyn Cunyus (2.6) also providing into the ball distribution. LCU averages 14.9 assists (third in the Heartland Conference) on 24.1 field goals per game. LCU has 209 assists (third in conference), ranking 39th nationally in the category.

HOME COURT
LCU is 6-0 inside Rip Griffin Center this season. The Lady Chaps have been led in scoring at home by OliviaRobertson (13.8 points per game), who is one of three Lady Chaps averaging double figures at home this season (Allie Schulte 13.5, Maddi Chitsey 10.3). Robertson also averages 7.3 rebounds at home this season. LCU has a 59-33 advantage in three-pointers this season at home, and they have five players shooting 50% or better from three-point range (of players with at least two three-pointers made). Madelyn Turner is 5-of-5 from long range at home this season.

WHAT ABOUT BOBBI
Bobbi Chitsey has had the recent hot-hand for the Lady Chaps.  Chitsey, who averaged 5.3 points per game over a six-game stretch prior to Dec. 8, is averaging 15.3 points per game in the past four games (beginning Dec. 8). She has led LCU in scoring in each of the prior two games. On Dec. 18 against Simon Fraser, she produced an 8-of-9 shooting performance, which was the sixth-best shooting performance (field goal percentage) by a Lady Chap since the 2009-10 season. The last time a Lady Chap had as hot of a hand as Chitsey was on Feb. 19, 2015, as Bailey Haist was 9-of-10 from the field against St. Edward's.

CLOSING THE CALENDAR
LCU's victory on Dec. 31 marked LCU's final game of the 2018 calendar year. It completed their 2018 calendar record at 29-5 (85.3%). They also improved to 5-2 all-time on New Year's Eve games. LCU is 4-2 all-time in New Year's Eve games played under head coach Steve Gomez and 3-1 all-time in non-conference games played on New Year's Eve. LCU had a 26-5 record (83.9%) for all games played in 2017, and went 29-10 (74.4%) in 2016 and 24-4 (85.7%) in 2015.

BOARD GAMES
The Lady Chaps rank seventh in the Heartland Conference in rebounds per game (33.2), but lead the Heartland Conference in rebounding margin with a mark of 4.2. Olivia Robertson leads LCU with 91 rebounds (6.5 per game). LCU has only been out-rebounded once over the prior 11 games.

DOWNTOWN
The Lady Chaps rank 34th nationally with 107 three-pointers on the season and is sixth with a shooting mark of 39.9% from long range. Allie Schulte is in the top-10 nationally, hitting three-pointers at a pace of 51.9% on the season (27/52), with 27 three-pointers ranking fifth in the conference.
 
ROAD JOURNAL
The Lady Chaps are 1-3 in true road games this season, with their last road game (Dec. 17 at Western Washington) resulting in their first road win of the season. Olivia Robertson leads LCU in away contests with average of 21.8 points per game. Maddi Chitsey also averages double figures in points away from home (11.3). LCU has been plagued by turnovers on the road. They have committed 86 turnovers (21.5 per game) and have been outscored 101-49 in points-off-turnovers in their combined four road games (an average of 25.3 - 12.3 per road game).

FIVE FACTS ABOUT TAMIU
- Texas A&M International is seeking their first win of the season, as they have opened the season 0-12 on the season. Dating back to last season, the Dustdevils are on a 14-game losing streak. Of this season's 12 losses, only two have been by a single-digit margin. Their average loss margin is by 26.6 points, which is next to last (300 of 301) in NCAA Div. II.
- The Dustdevils went 3-26 last season, with a 1-13 record the Heartland Conference. Their season came to an end with an opening round loss to LCU at the Heartland Conference Tournament in Tulsa, Okla.
- TAMIU is preseason picked to finish last in the Heartland Conference this season. They open conference play seeking to end a 12-game home losing streak, which is tied as the third longest active streak for home losses in NCAA Division II.
- Texas A&M International's top statistic in the conference in three-point field goal attempts, ranking fourth with a mark of 281 on the season. Alliyah Bryant ranks seventh in the conference with 73 attempts.
- Ciera Walker averages 2.0 offensive rebounds a game (fourth in the conference) and averages 7.1 overall rebounds per game (fifth in the conference).

THE SERIES AGAINST TAMIU
LCU leads the all-times series 12-1 against TAMIU. The Lady Chaps won the first five and the prior seven series meetings. LCU swept the regular season series last season, winning 73-53 on Jan. 4 in Lubbock and 69-46 in Laredo on Feb. 3, before claiming a 78-42 win at the Heartland Conference Tournament in Tulsa, Okla. LCU is 10-1 against TAMIU since joining the Heartland Conference.

PREVIOUS MEETING VS. TAMIU
March 1, 2018 (Tulsa, Okla.): LCU 78 - TAMIU 42
Top-seeded No.2 Lubbock Christian University used a program record 33-point third quarter and a combined 26 points from sisters Maddi and Bobbi Chitsey, to help the Lady Chaparrals open the 2018 Heartland Conference Tournament with a 78-42 win over No.8-seed Texas A&M International inside UMAC.
 
The 33-point third quarter was the highest scoring quarter for the Lady Chaps, dating back to the origination of the four-quarter format in 2015-16. Leading 27-19 to start the second half, LCU opened the half on a 9-0 run. TAMIU went the opening 4:33 of the quarter without a point and the opening 5:34 of the half without a field goal. They shot 22.2% (2-of-9) from the field in the quarter. Meanwhile, LCU was 10-of-11 from the field (90.9%) and 11-of-13 (84.6%) from the free-throw line in the quarter. Bobbi Chitsey scored 10 of her 12 points during the third quarter. LCU outscored TAMIU 33-8 in the quarter, with scoring advantages 16-4 in paint scoring and 13-2 in points off turnovers.
 
LCU's 33 points, in one quarter, was more than LCU had scored in the entire slow paced first half. The Lady Chaps, entering the game .234 from long range all-time in their Heartland Conference Tournament play (all in Tulsa), opened the game 0-of-8 from three-point range. They fortunately found success inside, going 5-of-9 (55.6%) inside the arc in the first quarter and 7-of-11 (63.6%) in the second quarter (12-of-20, 60% in the half). LCU led 12-7 after the opening quarter and Maddi Chitsey piled up eight points in the second quarter to help build LCU's lead to 27-14, but the Dustdevils stormed back and closed the half on a 5-0 run to cut LCU's lead to 27-19 heading into the break.
 
Following the 33-point scoring surge in the third quarter, LCU relied on their bench entering the fourth quarter leading 60-27. Allie Schulte produced a career high with 10 points and she produced five points in the fourth quarter, helping LCU go on an 11-1 run in the game's final minutes.
 
The Lady Chaps produced a shooting mark of 73.9% (17/23) in the second half. They finished the game 29-of-51 (56.9%). Maddi Chitsey led a foursome of Lady Chaps with 14 points. Bobbi Chitsey finished with 12 points, Tess Bruffey contributed 11 points and Schulte's 10 points helped join Maddi in double figures. Olivia Robertson, who co-led LCU in rebounding Saturday, led LCU Thursday in rebounding.