TEXAS WOMAN'S (3-2, 1-0) at No.1 LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (7-0, 1-0) December 5, 2019 • 5:30 p.m. Lubbock, Texas • Rip Griffin Center (1,950) LIVE STATS: Stat Broadcast TV: Fox 34 News Now (34.2 Digital, Suddenlink 109) Talent: Chris Due (Play-By-Play), Olivia Robertson (Analyst) WATCH ONLINE: LSC Digital Network  (Online or via OTT apps including Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV and Roku devices by searching "LSC Digital Network.") Talent: Chris Due (Play-By-Play), Olivia Robertson (Analyst) LISTEN: 100.7FM The Score Talent: Chris Due (Play-By-Play), Olivia Robertson (Analyst) LCU Social Media:
	TEXAS WOMAN'S (3-2, 1-0) Location: Denton, Texas Conference: Lone Star Head Coach: Beth Jillson (Hardin-Simmons, 2002) Roster | Stats | Preview
	LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN LADY CHAPS (7-0, 1-0) Location: Lubbock, Texas Conference: Lone Star Head Coach: Steve Gomez (LCU, 1988) Roster | Stats | Game Notes

RING IT ON!
No.1 Lubbock Christian University returns home to Rip Griffin Center Thursday, hosting Texas Woman's at 5:30 p.m. for their Lone Star Conference home opener. Members of the Lady Chaparrals 2019 NCAA Division II women's basketball national championship squad will be awarded their championship rings in a ceremony to be conducted during halftime of the men's game, which follows the Lady Chaps game Thursday. The Lady Chaps are 7-0 on the season and their matchup against Texas Woman's places a pair of 1-0 LSC squads going head-to-head. Toss in LCU's three exhibition games, and the Lady Chaps have played eight of their ten games away from home. LCU just completed a four-game stretch in which all four teams were either nationally ranked or were receiving votes in national top-25 polls. Three of the games were away from home, as LCU's last home game was Nov. 16 against No.20 Southwestern Oklahoma State.
 
WALK THE LINE
LCU completed their third consecutive stay at the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic in San Antonio, Texas and they went 2-0 for the first time at the event behind the play of Caitlyn Cunyus and Allie Schulte. At 5-6, Cunyus is the smallest player on the floor, but it did not stop her in matching career highs in consecutive performances, grabbing nine rebounds in a win over Southern Nazarene and Central Oklahoma. LCU overcame halftime deficits in each game, and in overtime against UCO, it was key rebounds leading to her being fouled and earning the win going 6-of-6 from the free-throw line in the overtime frame. She went 9-of-9 from the line against UCO (13-of-13 on the week), which was the highest single-game mark by a Lady Chap since Nicole Hampton was 14-of-14 in a contest during the 2013-14 season. Cunyus also contributed scoring averages of 12.0 points a game on the week, capped by her 17-point nine-rebound performance against UCO. She also contributed six assists and a steal on the week.
 
Schulte led LCU in San Antonio with 14.5-point scoring average in the pair of games. She averaged 12 points a contest in the second half alone, as her performance helped LCU produce wins over Southern Nazarene and Central Oklahoma, who were a combined 10-1 going into the games. Schulte posted 14 points and a career-high nine rebounds against SNU, and followed with 15 points against UCO. She went 8-of-8 from the free-throw line against SNU and finished the week 10-of-12 from the line. Schulte also averaged 2.5 assists and contributed three steals and a pair of blocks.

LONE STAR DEBUT
Playing conference games in December is not out of the norm, but playing a conference match in November was a little different, although expected with LCU playing in their first season in the  18-team Lone Star Conference. On Nov. 23, LCU defeated Angelo State 75-64 and it was LCU's first conference game in November since hosting Oklahoma Panhandle State (Nov. 21, 2013) and Newman (Nov. 23, 2013) during the 2013-14 season. LCU's LSC opener was their 27th conference opener and their first in the LSC after six Heartland Conference and 19 Sooner Athletic Conference openers. The Lady Chaps went 11-8 all-time in SAC openers and 5-1 in HC openers, with a loss at St. Mary's (Dec. 31, 2016) marking their only loss in a Heartland Conference opener. The win over ASU improved LCU to 15-2 all-time in conference openers under head coach Steve Gomez. They have won 14 of their prior 15 consecutive conference openers. Ashton Duncan leads LCU in conference scoring, averaging 24 points a game.

WHO IS COUNTING?
LCU's 7-0 start tops their 6-0 start to the 2017-18 season and it is their best start since their memorable 2015-16 season in which they went 35-0. LCU is one of two unbeaten teams in the LSC and there are 22 unbeaten teams in Division II.

1,000-POINT CLUB
Last Friday in San Antonio, Texas, Maddi Chitsey became the only active Lady Chap to reach 1,000-career points. She posted 12 points against Southern Nazarene to surpass 1,000 career points and enters this week's contest with 1,024 points in 92 career games. Chitsey is the latest player to reach the 1,000-point mark as a Lady Chap since Olivia Robertson completed the task in March last season.
 
RELAX
Despite posted a 7-0 record, the Lady Chaps can't say they have not faced adversity. LCU has overcome a deficit in each game this season, with a 10-point deficit Friday against Southern Nazarene marking their biggest deficit of the season. LCU is 2-0 this season when trailing at the half and 2-0 when trailing after three quarters. LCU went 7-3 last season when trailing at the half and 1-3 in contests they trailed after three quarters.

WHEN AT HOME
LCU went 15-0 last season inside Rip Griffin Center. With LCU's win 71-61 win on Nov. 16 over No.20 Southwestern Oklahoma State, LCU extended their active home win streak to 67 games, which ranks third all-time in NCAA Division II women's basketball (it actively leads NCAA Div. II). 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, who also has a 7-0 mark in NCAA postseason play in Lubbock in the mix, has also won 55 consecutive home conference games, with their last conference home loss occurring Jan. 10, 2013 (against Oklahoma City). They completed a 49-0 all-time mark in Heartland Conference home games.

NCAA DIVISION II'S LONGEST HOME WIN STREAKS 
87 - Neb.-Kearney Jan. 31, 1995-Nov. 24, 2001
85 - West Tex. A&M Jan. 9, 1987-Dec. 6, 1991
67 - Lubbock Christian Jan. 1, 2015 -->

MORE ON THE HOME FRONT
LCU is 2-0 at home this season. Maddi Chitsey leads LCU averaging 18.0 points at home, with Ashton Duncan and Laynee Burr each averaging 11.5 points a home contest to assist in the scoring. LCU is shooting 44.5% at home this season.
 
NATIONALLY KNOWN
Based on the preseason rankings for the 2019-20 season (D2SIDA, WBCA along with Lone Star Conference), the Lady Chaparrals carry the highest expectations in program history to start a season. D2SIDA placed the defending national champions No.1 and the WBCA ranked LCU No.2 despite the Lady Chaps receiving 14 of the 23 first place votes. Each ranking is their highest preseason ranking in program history. The LSC preseason ranked LCU No.1 in their preseason rankings. The third national in-season rankings came out this week and LCU remained No.1 in the WBCA and No.2 in D2SIDA polls.

BLOCK PARTIES ARE BACK
LCU ranks 13th nationally in blocks (37) and 13^th in blocks per game (5.3). Maddi Chitsey leads the team with 16 blocks (second in the conference and tied for 13^th nationally), at a pace of 2.3 per game (second in the conference and 18th nationally). The season mark for Chitsey has her with 107 career blocks, which places her fifth all-time in program history. LCU has ranked in the top-10 nationally in blocks each season since the 2015-16 season, which was their first season eligible to have statistics included among NCAA leaders. They ranked 10^th in total blocks last season (155), second in 2017-18 (202, ranking fourth with a pace of 6.1 per game), fourth in 2016-17 (170, leading the nation with 5.7 per game) and led NCAA Division II in 2015-16 with 235 blocks (6.7 per game).

CHARITY WORK
LCU are 28-of-34 (82.4%) from the free-throw line at home, which includes Madelyn Turner (8-of-8) and Maddi Chitsey (6-of-6) combining for a 14-of-14 mark from the line at home. The Lady Chaps were 38-of-50 in San Antonio (76%) and are shooting 78.0% from the line this season, which has them ranking second in the LSC in free-throw percentage (ranking 20^th nationally). In each season LCU has been eligible to have team statistics included among NCAA Division II leaders (2015-15), the Lady Chaps have finished in the top-three in their conference in free-throw shooting. They led the Heartland Conference in 2017-18 with a 76.2% mark from the line, ranking 33rd nationally. Their highest national ranking is 32nd (75.0%) from the 2015-16 season. Caitlin Cunyus leads LCU and ranks third in the LSC and 28^th nationally with a 91.3% shooting mark from the line (Turner does not qualify with enough attempts but is shooting 92.9% from the line). There are two qualified players with a 100% shooting mark from the free-throw line in NCAA Division II.

BE DEFENSIVE
The Lady Chaps lead the LSC and rank seventh nationally, holding opponents to a 31.6% shooting mark on the season. Of their seven contests, LCU has held the opponent to under a 30% shooting mark three times and the highest shooting percentage they have allowed in a game was 36.8% by Metro State (Nov. 9).
 
D-NOTES
The Lady Chaps lead the LSC in defensive rebounds a game with a mark of 30.1 per contest, which ranks 27^th nationally. Their team leader in defensive rebounds per game is Caitlyn Cunyus, who ranks fourth in the LSC with 5.6 per contest.
 
FIVE THINGS ABOUT TWU
1 > The Pioneers are 3-2 this season and have not played since a 61-42 loss at East Central on Nov. 27. They are coming off a 10-19 campaign in 2018-19, finishing seventh in the LSC with a 7-13 record. They went 3-8 last season in road play.
2 > TWU is preseason picked 10th in the LSC Preseason Poll. The Pioneers are 1-0 so far in LSC play after an impressive 63-55 road win at Tarleton State (Nov. 23).
3 > Like LCU, TWU possesses a gritty defense. The Pioneers rank second in the conference (behind LCU), holding opponents to a 33.1% shooting mark from the field (19^th nationally). They have held opponents to a 54.4-point scoring average (third in the LSC).  
4 > Carissa Moody, who has 15 career double-doubles, leads the LSC and ranks seventh nationally with 8.6 rebounds per game. Her overall average of 10.8 rebounds leads the LSC and is 24^th nationally.
5 > TWU opponents have shot 127 three-point attempts, which is 47 more than the Pioneers.

THE SERIES AGAINST TWU
LCU has won the prior three meetings over TWU and has a 4-1 series advantage. Four of the meetings have come since the 2010-2011 season. The two teams had never met in Lubbock until their prior meeting, which was LCU's first-ever NCAA postseason contest and resulted in a 95-75 victory by LCU on Mar. 10, 2016.
 
PREVIOUS RECAP VS. TWU
Mar. 10, 2016 (Lubbock, Texas) – LCU:95 - TWU:75
An 18-point first half from Haley Fowler and a 57.6% shooting percentage by top-seeded Lubbock Christian University against the ninth-toughest defense (opposing shooting percentage) in NCAA Division II led the Lady Chaparrals to a 95-75 in over eighth-seeded Texas Woman's University in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and the South Central Region. 
 
Texas Woman's came out with a strong balanced first quarter, with six different players getting field goals. A three-pointer by Kenesha Saygo was one of three three-pointers the Pioneers connected on out of their first five field goal attempts and it gave TWU an 8-2 lead early. They never trailed until Fowler's layup with 2:08 remaining for a 16-15 LCU lead. The field goal for Fowler was one of five in the quarter for the senior who had 13 points in the quarter. With a little over a minute to go in the quarter, TWU went a span of four minutes (carrying over into the second quarter) without a field goal, while LCU went on a 10-0 run. It was part of an overall 16-2 run by LCU, who led 33-20 with 5:19 left in the first half at the close of the run. LCU outscored TWU 29-10 in the second quarter. TWU, who shot 50% in the first half, was held to 3-of-20 (15%) shooting from the field in the second quarter. LCU, with 18 points in the half from Fowler and 10 points from Tess Bruffey, led 50-28 at the half. LCU had a 30-12 scoring advantage in the paint in the half.
 
LCU was 11-of-17 (64.7%) from the field in the third quarter. Bailey Haist, with five points in the quarter, connected on a three-pointer for a 70-42 lead with two minutes remaining in the quarter for LCU's largest lead of the game. TWU closed the quarter on a 6-0 run to cut LCU's lead to 72-50 heading into the fourth quarter. LCU's bench saw much of the floor in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 of their 23 points in the quarter. The Lady Chaps never let their lead slip under a 20-point lead despite Danielle Westerfield scoring seven of her 13 points in the quarter for TWU.
 
Nicole Hampton had a solid game for LCU, scoring 18 points and also adding nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Fowler finished 8-of-10 from the field and had a season high 22 points. Five Lady Chaps finished with double figures in points, with Kelsey Hoppel scoring 10 points and Tess Bruffey and Blair Taylor scoring 11 points each. Taylor was 5-of-6 from the field with her season high point totals tallied in an 11-minute span.
 
LCU finished the game 57.6% (34/59) from the field and they were 44.4% (8/18) from long range. The 95 points was the most allowed this season by TWU, who was without Erin Maxwell (Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Year). TWU received 20 points from Saygo in the loss.