THE REBOUND
Lubbock Christian University stumbled for the first time this season Thursday, in a 69-68 overtime road loss at Eastern New Mexico, and look to rebound Saturday in Canyon, Texas facing No.25 West Texas A&M in a Lone Star Conference divisional contest. The contest is also part of the Rivalry on the Range series involving both universities. The Lady Chaps fell to 14-1 on the season, with an 8-1 conference mark. In the division, they fell to 4-1 and enter the game in second place behind WT (5-0) in the divisional standings. The game wraps up a string of three consecutive games against programs that were in last season's NCAA South Central Region 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, prior to dropping to 14-1 Thursday, topped their 6-0 start to the 2017-18 season and it was their best start since their memorable 2015-16 season in which they went 35-0. Texas A&M-Commerce remains as the only unbeaten team in the LSC and there are now three remaining unbeaten teams in Division II.
 
LONG DISTANCE NEWS
Ashton Duncan leads LCU with 39 three-pointers this season, notching a pair Thursday night at ENMU. Duncan leads the LSC shooting 40.6% from long range (ranks 49th nationally) and with 2.6 three-pointers per game. She has made at least three three-pointers in nine games this season.
 
RELAX
Despite posting an 14-1 record, the Lady Chaps can't say they have not faced adversity. LCU has overcome a deficit in 10 of their 15 games this season, with a 13-point deficit Thursday at ENMU marking their biggest deficit of the season. They overcame the deficit and took a three-point lead in overtime before the Greyhounds ended the game on a 4-0 run. LCU is 3-1 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 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 4-1 in road play this season. Maddi Chitsey leads LCU averaging 16.2 points on the road and joins Ashton Duncan (13.4) and Allie Schulte (10.4) as players averaging double figures in points on the road. LCU is shooting 46.6% on the road this season and they are holding opponents to a 34.1% shooting mark. The Lady Chaps are averaging a low of 13.2 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. They will be dropping in the upcoming Tuesday rankings following Thursday's loss.
 
BLOCK PARTIES ARE BACK
LCU ranks sixth nationally in blocks (86) and seventh in blocks per game (5.7). Maddi Chitsey leads the team with 37 blocks (third in the conference and 16th nationally), at a pace of 2.47 per game (second in the conference and 16th 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 55-of-69 (79.7%) from the free-throw line in division play this season, with Laynee Burr (7-of-9) leading the way among qualified individuals. The Lady Chaps lead the LSC in free-throw percentage (ranking 21^st nationally) at 77.0%. 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 fifth in the LSC with a 78.1% shooting mark from the line (Caitlyn Cunyus, 33/36 - 91.7% and Madelyn Turner, 16/17 - 94.1% do not qualify with enough attempts).
 
BE DEFENSIVE
The Lady Chaps lead the LSC and rank fourth nationally, holding opponents to a 32.2% shooting mark on the season. Of their 15 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 28.5 per contest, which ranks 57th nationally. Their team leader in defensive rebounds per game is Caitlyn Cunyus, who ranks sixth in the LSC with 5.1 per contest.
 
IN RANGE
Both LCU and West Texas A&M's athletic departments announced the establishment of the "Rivalry on the Range," which began this season.
 
Entering Saturday's competition at West Texas A&M, LCU trails the competition 4.5 - 4.0. The Rivalry on the Range series scoring components will include head-to-head battles in men's soccer, women's soccer, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball and softball (additional points are available in Lone Star Conference and NCAA postseason play). For the sports of cross country, golf and track and field, which do not have head-to-head meetings, the program that records the best finish in each conference championship for those sports will receive points.
 
Additional points will be awarded for competitions involving the student bodies of each university and staff outings, including a golf tournament between athletic departments. Fans can learn about the point system, get news on upcoming games and follow the teams' standings on www.RivalryontheRange.com.
 
FIVE THINGS ABOUT WTAMU
1 > The Lady Buffs went 29-4 last season and shared the LSC Regular Season Championship honors with Angelo State University. They ended up hosting the opening two rounds of the South Central Region Tournament, where they fell to Angelo State (led to LCU hosting the region championship game).
2 > WT is preseason picked second in the LSC Preseason Poll. They are 15-3 overall this season with an 8-1 conference record and a 5-0 divisional record. The Lady Buffs are also 8-0 at home this season and enter Saturday's game riding a seven-game win streak overall after a 79-58 win Thursday over Angelo State.
3 > The Lady Buffs enter the week allowing an average of 50.6 points per game this season, which leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks fourth in all of Division II Women's Basketball. WT allowed a season-low 26 points to Adams State on Nov. 29th, marking the sixth lowest opponent point total in program history. WT has also held an opponent scoreless in a quarter on two different occasions this season.
4 > WT has a rebound margin of 12.1 per game, which is eighth nationally. They have not been out-rebounded this season.
5 > Delaney Nix leads the LSC with 113 three-point attempts on the season. She has made 45 and averages 2.5 per contest this season.
 
THE SERIES AGAINST WTAMU
LCU and WT are separated by 110 miles, but the two teams have only met three prior times. The first meeting came on Nov. 16, 2001, with WT defeating LCU 90-53, which has served as the only meeting in the series in Canyon (LCU's 2001-02 season opener). They only other meetings have been South Central Region Championship Game meetings (both in LCU's Rip Griffin Center), which came in 2016 (LCU winning 88-68) and 2018 (LCU winning 56-53). The two consecutive wins give LCU a 2-1 all-time series lead.
 
ACTIVE LADY CHAP LEADERS VS. WTAMU
Here is a look at LCU's top three active leaders career vs. WTAMU:
 
Caitlyn Cunyus 1GP 3.0 pts/g, 1/3 3pt-FG
Maddi Chitsey 1GP 12.0 pts/g, 1/3 3pt-FG
Allie Schulte 1GP 2.0 pts/g,
 
PREVIOUS RECAP VS. WTAMU
Mar. 12, 2018 (Lubbock, Texas) - LCU:56 - WT:53
Tess Bruffey recorded the fourth triple-double in program history on a night No.2 Lubbock Christian University needed it most. The senior, playing in her final home game, produced 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the top-seeded Lady Chaparrals to a 56-53 win over No.13/21 and No.2-seeded West Texas A&M. The win provided the NCAA Division II South Central Region crown and advances them to the Elite Eight for a second time in program history.
 
Bruffey's triple-double was just one of many story lines and milestones for the senior who closed out her final home game in a confetti filled Rip Griffin Center, which was to capacity with a standing-room-only crowd of 2,200.
 
The contest was tightly played between the two teams, and defense was at full display. The two teams combined for 13 blocks, with five coming from WT to match the most by a LCU opponent this season.  In the opening quarter, LCU went on a 7-0 run to take a 9-4 lead, but WT responded with the next five points to tie the score 9-9. WT benefited off four LCU turnovers in the quarter leading to 5-0 scoring advantage in points off turnovers. Bruffey led LCU with seven points in the quarter and took a 16-13 lead into the second quarter.
 
LCU continuously had a five-point lead in the second quarter, but was unable to extend the lead. They were 0-of-5 from the field with a shot attempt while leading by five. Leading 27-23, LCU ended a 3:22 scoring drought with Olivia Robertson hitting a 50-foot fling at the horn to take a 30-23 lead at the half.  Bruffey nearly completed a double-double in the first half with 12 points and nine rebounds.
 
Maddi Chitsey, who also claimed All-Tournament honors, scored the opening bucket of the second half and LCU took the game's biggest lead at 32-23. Tyesha Taylor scored six points for WT in the third quarter and helped them respond from the game's biggest deficit with a 13-4 run to tie the game at 36-36 with 1:41 left in the quarter. Bobbi Chitsey hit a field goal with 45 seconds left in the third quarter to provide LCU a 40-38 lead heading into the final quarter.
 
Leading 45-43, LCU went on a 7-1 run to build the lead to 52-44 on a layup by Robertson with 1:42 left. Credit the Lady Buffs for rallying late, as they hit three three-pointers in the final 1:11. Madison Parker's trey with seven seconds left cut LCU's lead to 55-53. Maddi Chitsey was sent to the line for LCU with four seconds remaining. She missed the first, but made the second attempt to place the LCU lead at 56-53. Parker had another good look and put up a shot attempt to tie the game, but the shot did not fall and LCU clinched their second region title in a three-year span.
 
LCU received 12 points from Maddi Chitsey to join Bruffey in double figures. WT was co-led by Lexy Hightower and Sydney Walton, who each had 12 points. Taylor finished with 10 points.