HEADING INTO THE PRIME
Lubbock Christian University hits the prime part of Lone Star Conference divisional play this week with a pair of road contest to complete at least one meeting against their five divisional foes. The Lady Chaps meet Eastern New Mexico and West Texas A&M for the first time this season, stopping into Portales, N.M. Thursday and Canyon, Texas Saturday. The Lady Chaps and West Texas A&M each enter the week 4-0 in divisional play to top the division. If LCU goes 2-0 on the week and ENMU goes 0-2, then LCU would secure a berth to the 12-team Lone Star Conference Championships (tournament).
 
DEFENSIVE EFFORT LEADS TO HONORS
The Lady Chaps had one game last week, and it resulted in a 69-52 LCU win over Angelo State. LCU held ASU to under 31% shooting in three of the four quarters and it led to Allie Schulte claiming LSC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Schulte had a balanced performance on the offensive and defensive end. She posted 15 points in the game and all 15 were scored in the final 20:30 of the game, as her first field goal was a three-pointer with 30 seconds left in the first half while it was a two-point LCU lead. Along with her team-leading 15 points (eight in the fourth quarter to help LCU turn a six-point lead into a 17-point victory), Schulte produced seven assists, had five rebounds, swiped a pair of steals and matched a career-high with two blocks. She was part of a defense that held ASU to 29.5% from the field and 16.7% from three-point range.
 
The honor marks the fourth weekly honor by a Lady Chaps member this season, and the first received by Schulte. She is LCU's second defensive honoree this season, joining Juliana Robertson, who received defensive weekly honors in November.
 
LONE STAR DEBUT
The Lady Chaps are playing in their first season in the Lone Star Conference and are 8-0 so far this season in conference play. A trio of Lady Chaps are averaging double figures in LSC play, led by Maddi Chitsey, who is averaging 14.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per conference game. Ashton Duncan (12.8) and Allie Schulte (12.5) are each averaging in double figures in conference contests. LCU has the advantage in three-point field goals (64-47), steals (62-49) and blocks (50-13) in LSC games. The Lady Chaps have a scoring margin per-game of 19.1 and are holding opponents to a 32.7% in those contests.
 
WHO IS COUNTING?
LCU's 14-0 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 four unbeaten teams in Division II.
 
LONG DISTANCE NEWS
Ashton Duncan leads LCU with 37 three-pointers this season and is coming off a 3-of-7 three-point shooting performance Saturday against Angelo State. Duncan leads the LSC shooting 42.0% from long range (ranks 43rd nationally) and is second in the LSC with 2.64 three-pointers per game. She has made at least three three-pointers in nine games this season.
 
RELAX
Despite posting an 13-0 record, the Lady Chaps can't say they have not faced adversity. LCU has overcome a deficit in 10 of their 14 games this season, with a 10-point deficit on Nov. 29 against Southern Nazarene marking their biggest deficit of the season. LCU is 3-0 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. On Dec. 21 at Midwestern State (their most recent road game), LCU overcame a nine-point deficit in the third quarter.
 
WHEN AT HOME
LCU went 15-0 last season inside Rip Griffin Center. With LCU's 69-52 win over ASU Saturday, LCU was able to extend their active home win streak to 72 games, which ranks third all-time in NCAA Division II women's basketball (it actively leads all of NCAA following Baylor's win at UConn last Thursday). 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 60 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
72 - Lubbock Christian Jan. 1, 2015 -->
 
BUT ON THE ROAD...
LCU is 4-0 in road play this season. Maddi Chitsey leads LCU averaging 15.8 points at home and joins Ashton Duncan (15.3) and Allie Schulte (11.8) as players averaging double figures in points on the road. LCU is shooting 47.1% on the road this season and they are holding opponents to a 34.0% shooting mark. The Lady Chaps are averaging a low of 12.5 turnovers per road game 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 seventh 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 sixth nationally in blocks (83) and fifth in blocks per game (5.9). Maddi Chitsey leads the team with 36 blocks (third in the conference and 15th nationally), at a pace of 2.6 per game (leads the conference and 14th nationally). 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 10th 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 is 43-of-50 (86.0%) from the free-throw line in division play this season, with Laynee Burr (7-of-8) leading the way among qualified individuals. The Lady Chaps lead the LSC in free-throw percentage (ranking 16th nationally) at 78.1%. Saturday against ASU, LCU was 5-of-6 from the line. 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. Maddi Chitsey leads LCU and is second in the LSC with a 81.8% shooting mark from the line (Caitlyn Cunyus, 30/33 - 90.9% and Madelyn Turner, 16/17 - 94.1% do not qualify with enough attempts).
 
BE DEFENSIVE
The Lady Chaps lead the LSC and rank third nationally, holding opponents to a 32.0% shooting mark on the season. Of their 14 contests, LCU has held the opponent to under a 30% shooting mark six times and the highest shooting percentage they have allowed in a game was 40.0% by Cameron (Dec. 19), which has been the only time an opponent shot over 38% in a game this season against LCU.
 
D-NOTES
The Lady Chaps lead the LSC in defensive rebounds a game with a mark of 27.9 per contest, which ranks 70th nationally. Their team leader in defensive rebounds per game is Caitlyn Cunyus, who ranks seventh in the LSC with 5.0 per contest.
 
FIVE THINGS ABOUT ENMU
1 > The Greyhounds are coming off a 19-11 campaign in 2018-19, which came to an end in the NCAA Division II South Central region tournament with a loss to WT. They went 12-1 at home last season and are off to a 3-1 start this season at home.
2 > ENMU is preseason picked sixth in the LSC Preseason Poll. They are 10-4 overall this season with a 4-4 conference record and a 1-3 divisional record.
3 > The 'Hounds have been without Alivia Lewis the previous two games. She is their scoring (12.3 points per game) and rebound (8.5 per game) leader this season.
4 > ENMU leads the LSC and is ninth nationally in offensive rebounds per game, with an average of 16.9 per game. Jasmine Williams (fifth in the LSC) leads the team with 3.3 offensive boards per game.
5 > Zamorye Cox ranks second in the LSC in steals per game (2.79), which ranks 24th nationally.
 
THE SERIES AGAINST ENMU
The 'Hounds own a 23-15 all-time advantage against the Lady Chaps, but LCU has won the prior six meetings and 11 of the last 13. LCU is 7-2 all-time against ENMU under head coach Steve Gomez. The previous meeting in Portales, N.M. resulted in a 64-55 LCU win on Dec. 30, 2017.  Last season, LCU won 64-48 in Lubbock (Dec. 31, 2018). LCU is 4-15 all-time in Portales against ENMU, with all four wins coming over the previous six meetings.
 
ACTIVE LADY CHAP LEADERS VS. ENMU
Here is a look at LCU's top three active leaders career vs. ENMU:
 
Caitlyn Cunyus 2GP 8.5 pts/g, 5.0 reb/g
Maddi Chitsey 2GP 7.0 pts/g, 5.0 reb/g
Allie Schulte 1GP 7.0 pts/g, 2/3 3pt-FG, 7.0 reb/g
 
PREVIOUS RECAP VS. ENMU
Dec. 31, 2018 (Lubbock, Texas) - LCU:64 - ENMU:48
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 two squads each shot under 29% in their prior meeting last season and the start of Monday's game was matching the flow of the previous meeting. ENMU opened the game 0-of-6 from the field, but LCU did not take full advantage of the Greyhounds shooting woes. LCU led 4-0 before ENMU received a three-pointer from Tilasha Okey 3:40 into the game for their first field goal of the game. Through each team's opening 12 shot attempts, LCU was 4-of-12 (33.3%) and ENMU was 1-of-12 (8.3%) from the field. ENMU was held to one field goal in the first quarter (1-of-13 in the quarter) and opened the game 1-of-16 (6.3%) before they made their second field goal. Olivia Robertson and Maddi Chitsey each had five points in the opening quarter and led LCU to a 15-6 lead at the close of the first quarter.
 
Once ENMU made their second field goal (with 7:22 remaining in the second quarter), they closed the first half going 7-of-13 from the field. Meanwhile, LCU went a sequence of eight consecutive missed field goal attempts in the second quarter, which was part of a 1-of-12 shooting stretch. Despite LCU's 4-of-16 (25%) shooting in the quarter, ENMU outscored LCU 14-12 in the quarter and cut LCU's lead to 27-20 at the half.
 
LCU opened the second half outscoring the Greyhounds 18-3 to jump out to a 45-23 lead with 4:46 left in the third quarter. LCU was 8-of-12 from the field in the third quarter, with Bobbi Chitsey posting 10 points in the quarter to help the Lady Chaps outscore ENMU 23-12 in the quarter. They took a 52-30 lead into the fourth quarter. Their lead was never in jeopardy in the final quarter and Olivia Robertson was 3-of-3 from the field in the quarter to lead LCU with six points in the quarter.
 
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.