No.1 Lubbock Christian University completed history Thursday with their 88^th consecutive home win, and now focus on road play Saturday, as a hungry No.16 West Texas A&M awaits the Lady Chaparrals for the regular season finale inside First United Bank Center (2 p.m. tip). The Lone Star Conference West Division contest could be the decisive game determining the LSC Championship seedings, with postseason play beginning Tuesday.
 
FIVE THINGS TO FOCUS ON
 
1 > LCU (14-0, 12-0-LSC, 6-0-Div.) aims to improve to 5-0 in road play on the season. Allie Schulte, who leads LCU with a pace of 14.5 points per game, leads LCU in road play with an average of 16.5 points per game. Ashton Duncan and Emma Middleton each average 11.0 points on the road this season. LCU has a 21-3 advantage in blocks and they average 5.5 more
rebounds per game on the road. Schulte is 13-of-22 (59.1) from three-point range in road contests.  
 
2 > Thursday, LCU became the first NCAA Division II women's basketball program to achieve 88 consecutive home victories. The 68-42 victory over West Texas A&M placed LCU past Nebraska-Kearney, who won 87 games from Jan.31, 1995 – Nov. 24, 2001. Along with the streak of 88 home wins, which includes a 7-0 home record in NCAA Division II postseason games, LCU has a string of 73 consecutive conference home wins (they went 49-0 in the Heartland Conference and improved to 21-0 in LSC home games with the win over the Lady Buffs).
 
3 > The meeting between the two teams Thursday marked LCU's first game against a nationally ranked opponent this season (1-0). LCU went 4-2 last season against nationally ranked opponents, with all three meetings last season against WT in the mix (2-1). The Lady Chaps have dropped their last two road games against nationally ranked teams, with a 56-53 road win at No.15 Colorado Mesa standing as their last road win against a nationally ranked team (Mar. 16, 2019).

4 > LCU had four players in double-figures offensively for the Lady Chaps Thursday, led by 21 points from Allie Schulte. All of Schulte's career-high matching 21 points came in the middle quarters (she had 10 points in the second quarter and 11 in the third quarter), with her 11 points in the third quarter representing all of LCU's team scoring in the quarter. She had a span in which she hit five consecutive field goal attempts in the quarter.
 
5 > The Lady Chaps, who enter the week ranked second in the nation in free-throw shooting, went 10-for-11 (90.9%) at the free-throw line Thursday, marking their third time to shoot over 90% from the line in a game this season. Madelyn Turner entered Thursday 3-of-3 on the season from the line, and ended up going to the line for four attempts Thursday. She made all four and is 7-of-7 on the season. Allie Schulte leads the team at the line with a mark of 83.3%, ranking fifth in the conference.

THE SERIES AGAINST WT
LCU and WT are separated by 110 miles, but the two teams have only met seven prior times (this season will mark the second season they will have faced each other multiple times). LCU has a 5-2 series advantage. The first ever meeting was on Nov. 16, 2001, with WT defeating LCU 90-53 in Canyon, Texas (LCU's 2001-02 season opener). Last season, the two teams split the regular season series, with the home team winning each game, before LCU defeated the Lady Buffs 59-46 on Mar. 7 in Frisco, Texas at the LSC Championships. The meeting in Frisco was their third postseason meeting, but the first in the conference tournament. They had met twice in NCAA postseason play (both were in Lubbock and in the South Central Region Championship Game), which came in 2016 (LCU winning 88-68) and 2018 (LCU winning 56-53).

PREVIOUS RECAP VS. WT
Feb. 25, 2021 (Lubbock, Texas) - WT:42 - LCU:68
Lubbock Christian University women's basketball program has made its mark in its short history in NCAA Division II. Since becoming members in 2015, LCU has claimed five conference titles, a pair of national titles and Thursday they obtained another NCAA achievement. Behind a 21-point performance from Allie Schulte, the No.1 Lady Chaparrals defeated No.16 West Texas A&M 68-42 in a Lone Star Conference West Division battle to set a NCAA Division II women's basketball record with their 88^th consecutive home win inside Rip Griffin Center.
 
LCU used a strong first half to take away any pressure of a potential snap to their streak. After missing their first two field goal attempts, the Lady Chaps made seven of their next 10 attempts. Emma Middleton made the first two field goals and started a 9-0 scoring start of the game, which Ashton Duncan capped with a three-pointer. West Texas A&M did not get on the scoreboard until 4:03 into the game, with Braylyn Dollar connecting on a much needed three-pointer. The three-pointer did not phase Madelyn Turner. Who responded with five straight LCU points for a 14-3 LCU lead. Turner (7) and Middleton (6) combined for 13 points in the quarter and LCU led 19-11 at the quarter's close.
 
WT opened the game 2-of-12 from the field, but then scored on five of their next eight attempts. Jayla Burgess hit a jumper to open the second quarter scoring (55 seconds into the quarter), but the 19-13 deficit would be as close as they would get for the remainder of the game. Duncan and Turner followed with three-pointers, with Turner's three-pointer igniting 20-5 scoring surge for LCU for a 42-20 halftime lead.
 
LCU outscored WT 23-9 in the second quarter off 57.1% (8-of-14) shooting, which included a 3-of-4 mark from outside. Schulte led LCU with 10 points in the quarter.
 
The Lady Chaps were unable to continue their success of 55.6% (15/27) shooting from the field (5-of-7 from long distance) from the first half in the second half of play. The Lady Buffs opened the second half on a 6-0 run. Schulte had a layup nearly halfway into the third quarter to end the run. WT's leading scorer, Lexi Hightower and LCU's leading scorer, Schulte, then decided to carry their team's weight in the third quarter. Hightower had eight of the Lady Buff's 10 points in the quarter, while Schulte had all 11 of LCU's points in the quarter. Schulte had her own 9-0  run, which followed a pair of Hightower free-throws (made the score 44-28 with 4:34 left in the quarter), to build the LCU lead to 53-28 with 1:15 left in the quarter.
 
LCU maintained their lead in the fourth quarter. Duncan led LCU in the quarter, and her three-pointer with 1:56 left was the exclamation point to place the Lady Chaps with their largest lead of the game (68-42). The Lady Buffs were held off the scoreboard for the final 3:57 of the game. Duncan's three-pointer was also the only three-pointer of the half, as LCU missed their first nine three-point attempts of the second half.
 
The Lady Chaps shot 46.4% from the field in the win (26/56) and held WT to 30.4% (14/46) shooting. WT entered the game leading the LSC in field goal percentage. The Lady Chaps had a 38-14 advantage in paint scoring and a 26-7 advantage in points-off-turnovers, forcing WT in to 19 turnovers while committing nine turnovers.
 
LCU had four players finish with at least 10 points, led by Schulte, who matched a career high with her 21 points. Madelyn Turner was 2-of-3 from downtown and finished with a season-high 14 points. Middleton (12) and Duncan (11) combined for 23 points and they each had at least a +26 plus/minus (Middleton led LCU with a +27).
 
WT, falling for a third consecutive game (was 14-1 prior to the stretch), was led by 14 points from Lexy Hightower, who had eight of her points from the charity stripe. The Lady Buffs record dropped to 14-4 overall, 13-4 in LSC play and 5-2 in West Division action.