WEATHERFORD, Okla. (November 21, 2022) – Southwestern Oklahoma State University opened 8-of-13 from three-point range, and nine three-pointers in the opening half helped the Bulldogs to an 11-point lead, but the hot outside shooting would fizzle. The Bulldogs missed their final 10 three-point attempts, while No.18 Lubbock Christian University rallied behind 22 points and a career-high 16 rebounds from Grace Foster to help the Lady Chaps dampen the Bulldogs home opener with a 73-67 victory Monday night inside Pioneer Cellular Event Center.
 
The Bulldogs produced 17 field goals in the opening half and nine were from long distance. Six of the three-pointers were made by Adysen Wilson, who posted all of her career-high 18 points in the opening half. While going 3-of-11 inside the arc in the first quarter, SWOSU was 4-of-8 beyond the arc, including Wilson's second trey of the game to give SWOSU an 18-14 lead at the close of the first quarter.
 
She continued where she left off in the start of the second quarter, nailing consecutive three-pointers for a 24-16 Bulldogs lead. Wilson was 4-of-5 in the quarter from three-point range, completing consecutive three-pointers for a second time in the quarter to build the Bulldogs lead to its largest (32-21 with 6:37 remaining in the half). LCU responded with a 6-0 run, with Resse Schuman scoring the last two buckets of the run to cut the deficit to 32-27 with 4:23 left in the quarter. Averi Zinn had six points in the second quarter, popping in a pair of baskets inside the final minute of the quarter to build the SWOSU lead to 43-34, but Foster capitalized with a layup to put the halftime score at 43-36.
 
SWOSU was 9-of-18 (50%) from three-point range in the half, with Wilson shooting 75% (6-of-8) from the perimeter. Wilson (18 points) and Morgan Smith (12 points) combined for 30 points in the first half. They also had a 15-2 advantage in second-chance scoring.
 
LCU trailed at the half despite shooting 64.3% (9/14) from the field in the second quarter. Foster led LCU with 14 points at the break.
 
The Lady Chaps nearly eliminated the deficit in the opening two minutes of the second half. Buckets from Shaylee Stovall, Whitney Cox and Foster was part of a 6-0 start to the half, which cut SWOSU's lead to 43-42 with 7:44 to-go in the quarter. SWOSU built the lead to a five-point margin and maintained it until Rachel Haase followed a field goal by Whitney Cox with a three-pointer to tie the game (49-49) with 3:43 remaining in the quarter. The combo of field goals was part of a 9-1 LCU run for a 53-50 lead as 1:56 remained in the quarter.  
 
LCU took a 55-52 lead into the final quarter. Haase hit back-to-back three-pointers to extend LCU's lead to 67-55, as they held SWOSU without a field goal for the first 4:32 of the quarter (overall span of 5:31).  LCU made three of their final four field goal attempts (in the closing 4:27) to seal the win.
 
Cox and Haase each had six points in the final quarter. They were LCU's top scorers in the second half, as Cox (10 points) and Haase (9 points) combined for 19 points in the half. LCU had a 29-14 advantage in rebounds in the half to help lead to a 10-0 scoring advantage in second-chance scoring.
 
The Lady Chaps (3-2) had a 36-24 scoring advantage in paint scoring. While LCU was 5-of-19 (26.3%) from three-point range, they were 25-of-43 (58.1%) inside the arc. Cox was 7-of-9 from the field (career high 14 points) and Schumann was 3-of-5 from the field (6 points), as the two attributed to the inside success. Schumann was a team-leading +12 (plus/minus) in the game. The two were part of the architecture of Grace Foster's career high rebounding night. Foster recorded her third double-double of the season with her 22 points and 16 rebounds (also had a career-high six assists). The 16 rebounds were tied for the fourth-most by a Lady Chap since 2008 and the most since Juliana Robertson had 18 against UT Tyler last season (Jan. 15, 2022). LCU also received 11 points from Audrey Robertson.
 
SWOSU fell to 0-4 with the loss and they had their 13-game win streak at home snapped. They had four players finish in double figures offensively, with Morgan Smith and Wilson each co-leading the team with 18 points. They were a combined 8-of-10 from three-point range, as the rest of the squad was a combined 1-of-16 (6.3%). The team was 9-of-26 (34.6%) from three-point range, which topped LCU's mark of 26.3% (5-of-19). They fell despite a 16-8 advantage in turnovers, leading to a 15-7 scoring advantage in points-off-turnovers.
 
TURNING POINT
As Rachel Haase connected on a three-pointer to tie the game at 49-49 with 3:49 remaining in the third quarter, the Bulldogs responded going 1-of-6 from the field. LCU would go on a 23-6 scoring surge, with Haase's game-tying three-pointer capping the first five points of the run.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Grace Foster missed her fifth free-throw attempt during the game, which marked her first miss from the line this season. She had made 24 consecutive free-throw attempts to start the season and 40 consecutive free-throws dating back to last season.  That is the most consecutive made free-throws since Nicole Hampton made 36 consecutive free-throws during the 2015-16 season. Hampton holds the program record of 62 consecutive free-throws made, which was also a NAIA Division I record.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
LCU will take a brief break for Thanksgiving and will return on Saturday to host Oklahoma City for an exhibition game at 1 p.m. Saturday inside Rip Griffin Center.