FOOD KING CLASSIC
SOUTHWESTERN OKLA. STATE (2-1) at LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN (3-1)
Nov. 17, 2023 • 6:00 PM
Lubbock, Texas • Rip Griffin Center (1,950)
 

FOOD KING CLASSIC
OPPONENT	LOCATION	DAY	TIME (CT)	WATCH	STATS
SWOSU	Lubbock, Texas	Fri. Nov. 17	6 p.m.	Video	Stats

GAME NOTES (PDF)

ROYALTY
Lubbock Christian University hosts the Food King Classic this weekend, as the No.22 Lady Chaparrals host Southwestern Oklahoma State Friday (6 p.m.) and King (Tenn.) Saturday (7:30 p.m.) inside Rip Griffin Center. LCU enters the weekend on a three-game win streak and with a 3-1 overall record on the young season.
 
COLORADO TRAILS
The Lady Chaparrals went 2-0 in their weekend of contests at the RMAC/LSC Challenge in Lakewood, Colo. LCU claimed an overtime win over Colorado Christian (67-62) in their first road game of the season and followed with a 71-60 win over Colorado State Pueblo in their first neutral site game of the season. Grace Foster led LCU in scoring with an average of 16.5 points and co-led (with Audrey Robertson) in rebounding with an average of 7.0 per game.
 
SEASON NOTES AND TRENDS
> LCU has opened the season with at least 20 points from the free-throw line in all four games this season. The Lady Chaps are taking advantage from the free-throw line, making 83.5% of their attempts (86/103) and averaging 21.5 points a game from the line (16^th nationally). They rank 18^th nationally in free-throw percentage and their 38^th in attempts per game (25.8). If LCU can extend their streak to five consecutive games with at least 20 made free-throws, it would mark the first time they have completed the task since Jan. 25 – Feb.13, 2014 (was prior to quarters and the current bonus format). Twice in the past three games, Grace Foster has gone 13-of-13 from the free-throw line. Each of the performances involve the most free-throws made in a game (13) since Nicole Hampton had 15 on Jan. 14, 2016 (third-most since 2008). Foster had 13 on Nov. 5 against Adams State at home, which set a Rip Griffin Center record. Foster's 13-of-13 marks are each one off Hampton's 14-of-14 school-record performance on Jan. 14, 2016 (at Newman). Fosters 13-of-13 on Nov.5 did mark a new Rip Griffin Center record previously held by Laynee Burr, who was 12-of-12 on Feb. 4, 2022 (against Midwestern State). The performance at the line for Foster Saturday against CSU Pueblo marked her sixth game in which she was perfect from the line with six-or-more consecutive shots made. Foster is 35-of-39 on the season (.897, ninth in the LSC), which is second on the squad (of qualifiers) behind Shaylee Stovall, who is 11-of-12 (91.7%, seventh in the LSC).

> The Lady Chaps have three players in the top-25 in LSC scoring so far this season. Foster is averaging 19.3 points per game, which has her seventh in the LSC. Maci Maddox is ranking 12th in the LSC with 15.5 points per game and Audrey Robertson ranks 22^nd with a pace of 11.8 points per game. The trio are also in top-six in minutes played, with Maddox leading the conference (second in the nation) with 40.8 minutes played per game (Foster is third in LSC at 33.5 and Robertson is fourth in LSC at 33.0 minutes per game). Maddox is fourth in the LSC with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.4.

> Foster is averaging 7.2 rebounds per game (ninth in the LSC), but is sixth in the LSC averaging 6.8 defensive rebounds per game. She led the LSC last season with a pace of 7.5 defensive rebounds per game.
 
> Maci Maddox is fourth nationally in steals with 12 on the season and ranks third in the LSC with a pace of 3.0 steals per game. She is averaging 3.7 per game over the prior four games.
 
> LCU has four new additions on the roster this season (all are freshmen) and the only one that has made their LCU debut, through the first four games, has been Kennedy Chappell. In four games, Chappell is averaging 5.5 points per game and has earned her way to the charity stripe, where she is 10-of-13 on the season. She posted her first double-digit point outing Friday at Colorado Christian, scoring 10 points.

MILESTONE
Grace Foster enters the weekend 91 points shy of 1,000 career points. The last Lady Chaos member to reach 1,000 career points is Ashton Duncan, who hit the mark Feb. 17, 2022 against Eastern New Mexico.
 
THE GOLDEN ONE
Division II conferences have selected a total of 45 finalists for the division's 50th Anniversary Gold Award, and one of two Lone Star Conference selections is Lubbock Christian University's Steve Gomez.

This award, which is part of the division's yearlong 50th anniversary celebration that launched Aug. 7 and will extend through the 2024 Division II Baseball Championship in June, will recognize two individuals (one male and one female) who have made a lasting and positive impact in Division II. 

Conference offices reviewed the initial pool of 231 nominated individuals and each selected two honorees. The NCAA Division II Management Council Identity Subcommittee will review these finalists and select the two overall winners, who will be recognized at the 2024 NCAA Convention in Phoenix.

The conference honorees include current and former student-athletes, coaches, faculty members, commissioners and administrators who have helped shape Division II over time.

As part of the anniversary celebration, Division II also will provide a commemorative scholarship opportunity for student-athletes from active member schools who exhibit the core values of Division II and have not yet exhausted their athletics eligibility. Two recipients from each conference and two representing the independent institutions will be announced in May during the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championships Festival in Orlando, Florida. Nomination procedures for the scholarship will be announced to the Division II membership in January.
 
SELF DEFENSE
The Lone Star Conference announced their women's basketball weekly honors and Lubbock Christian University's Maci Maddox has claimed Defensive Player of the Week accolades.

Guard Maci Maddox helped Lubbock Christian go 2-0 in claiming a 67-62 overtime win at Colorado Christian and a 71-60 neutral site win over Colorado State Pueblo. Maddox provided a well-balanced performance, collecting 12 rebounds and disrupting the opponents with eight steals, including five vs. CSU Pueblo (co-led all LSC players for single-game marks on the week). The senior led all LSC players in minutes per game (41.7), co-led in steals (4.0) and free-throw percentage (8-of-8), third in assists (4.5) and assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and 10th in scoring (16.0). Along with her five steals against the ThunderWolves, Maddox also added 20 points, five assists and six rebounds in the contest.

The honor is first weekly award of the Lubbock native's career. The accolade is also the first weekly honor obtained this season by the Lady Chaps. Last season, LCU claimed four weekly honors, with the lone defensive honor claimed by Reese Schumann on Jan. 16, 2023.

NATIONALLY KNOWN (OR UNKNOWN)
Despite returning five starters from a regional-finalist squad, which also shared a divisional title, LCU did not garner the attention of voters in the preseason. This season, LCU is receiving Top-25 votes in the WBCA Preseason Poll, but it is their first time they are not in the Top-25 for a WBCA preseason poll since the start of the 2017-18 season (second time not in a WBCA Preseason Poll since becoming eligible for the poll in 2015-16… WBCA did not conduct a preseason poll in 2020-21 due to COVID). Also, since joining NCAA Division II (2015-16 was their first postseason eligible season), the Lady Chaps have appeared in every D2CSC Preseason Poll until this season, as they are also receiving votes in the D2CSC Top-25 Preseason Poll. The WBCA has not produced an in-season Top-25 national poll, but D2CSC released their first in-season rankings this week and LCU has made their season debut at No.22.

SO ARE SOME OTHERS
LCU fell to No.17 Union (Tenn.) Friday, placing them with a 0-1 record this season against nationally ranked programs. LCU went 6-0 against nationally ranked programs in 2020-21, 3-2 in 2021-22 (opened 3-0) and 2-5 last season against Top-25 competition.

OH, HOME
LCU is 1-1 at home this season. Grace Foster is leading LCU with 22.0 points per game on the home floor. The Lady Chaps, shooting 47.1% from the field inside "The Rip," are also receiving averages of 15.0 points a game from Maci Maddox.

SWEET HOME (ON) CHICAGO
The Lady Chaps, who went 12-2 at home last season, are 1-1 this season at home. On Feb. 2, 2023, the NCAA Division II record home win streak came to a close, as LCU fell to Angelo State, which ended the record win streak at 113. The loss was LCU's first at home since Jan. 1, 2015 against Oklahoma City University. LCU, who also had a 7-0 mark in NCAA postseason play in Lubbock in the mix (not including a 4-0 mark in LSC postseason play), had also won 88 consecutive home conference games (their last conference home loss occurred Jan. 10, 2013 against Oklahoma City). They completed a 49-0 all-time mark in Heartland Conference home games (they are 35-1 in LSC home games). LCU also went 11-0 during their 113-game home win streak against nationally ranked programs.

NCAA DIVISION II'S LONGEST HOME WIN STREAKS
113 - Lubbock Christian Jan. 1, 2015 - Feb. 2, 2023
87 - Neb. Kearney Jan. 31, 1995-Nov. 24, 2001
85 - West Tex. A&M Jan. 9, 1987-Dec. 6, 1991

EYE-OPENING
The 2023-24 season marks LCU's 11th since leaving the NAIA and LCU is 269-47 record (85.1%) in that span. In NCAA postseason play, the Lady Chaps are 24-3 all-time (88.9%).

FIVE THINGS ABOUT SWOSU
1 > The Bulldogs went 8-19 last season (8-14 in Great American Conference play to finish in a share of ninth in conference). They are in their second season with Jeff Zinn at the helm of the Bulldogs.
2 > SWOSU's contest Friday against LCU will mark their first true road game of the season. They are 2-1 this season after opening up their season last Friday in Shawnee, Okla. with a win over Washburn (63-58) before falling to Pittsburg State the following night 67-47. They edged Oklahoma City 56-52 Tuesday in their home opener.
3 > The Bulldogs are picked to finish 11th in the GAC, as they took the 11th spot in the GAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
4 > Averi Zenn leads SWOSU with an average of 12 points a game, and also leads the team in distribution with a pace of 4.7 rebounds a game (third in the GAC). Zenn, who had a season-high 17-point performance against OCU, ranks seventh in the GAC in assist/turnover ratio (2.8) and fourth in minutes per game (34.0).
5 > SWOSU ranks 11^th in the GAC in shooting (28.1%) and in opponent's shooting (42.8%) from the field. The discrepancy has opponents leading in rebound average at a rate of 49.7 compared to 34.0 per game for SWOSU.

THE SERIES AGAINST SWOSU
LCU is 7-3 all-time against SWOSU, with LCU winning the prior four meetings. The most memorable contest between the two programs was on Mar. 29, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio, where LCU topped SWOSU in double overtime (95-85) to claim the 2019 NCAA Division II national title. The two teams also met in the 2020-21 postseason play, as LCU topped SWOSU 78-65 in Canyon, Texas at the South Central Regional Championship Game (SWOSU was in LCU's region due to COVID postseason realignment). Last season, they met in SWOSU's head coach Jeff Zinn's home debut (Nov. 21, 2022), with LCU claiming a 73-67 win. LCU is 2-0 all-time in Lubbock against SWOSU, with the Lady Chaps topping the Bulldogs 71-61 on Nov. 16, 2019 in the prior meeting in the Hub City.
 
ACTIVE LADY CHAP LEADERS VS. SWOSU
Grace Foster 1gp, 22-points, 16 reb., 6 assists
Audrey Robertson 1gp, 14-points, 2 blocks
Reese Schumann 1gp, 6-points, 6 reb.

PRIOR MEETING VS. SWOSU
LUBBOCK, Texas (November 16, 2019) - No.1 Lubbock Christian University used a 24-9 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter to overcome a 52-47 deficit and defeat No. 20 Southwestern Oklahoma State 71-61 in the final game of the TAJ Hospitality Classic inside Rip Griffin Center. The meeting matched the two programs who appeared in the NCAA Division II national championship game last season in Columbus, Ohio, which LCU won in double-overtime for their second national championship in program history.

Double overtime was needed to decide the winner in March and the thoughts of overtime Saturday were entering people's mindset after eight lead changes and neither team producing more than a six-point lead through the first seven lead changes.

Neither team was able to get into a solid shooting rhythm, but there was a brief glimpse of a heavyweight bout with tiring haymakers thrown and it came in the third quarter. With 6:24 left in the third quarter, Caitlyn Cunyus connected on a three-pointer to give LCU a 40-35 lead and their largest lead of the game. SWOSU responded by ending a 0-for-7 shooting sequence by knocking down five consecutive field goal attempts. The Bulldogs made four straight three-point field goals (two by Makyra Tramble and two by Taber Beer) and the 17-6 scoring advantage over a four-minute stretch turned the Lady Chaps lead into a 52-46 SWOSU advantage.

The scoring surge for SWOSU led to a 52-47 Bulldogs lead heading into the fourth quarter. The hot shooting did not follow the Bulldogs into the fourth quarter though, as they missed five consecutive shots (all three-point attempts) made one field goal over a span of 14 shot attempts. Meanwhile, LCU, following a three-point miss to open the quarter, made five of their next six shot attempts and it led to a 12-3 LCU run for a 59-55 LCU lead four minutes into the fourth quarter. Allie Schulte, who had not had scored since a first-quarter field goal, was 3-of-5 from the field in the fourth quarter and scored seven points. Her contributions, along with a 14-6 rebound margin, a 12-4 scoring edge in the paint and a 10-of-14 performance from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter contributed to LCU outscoring SWOSU 24-9 in the quarter. SWOSU, who ended the first half making two of their final 10 field goal attempts, ended the game making one of their final 12 field goal attempts in the game. They were 2-of-17 in the fourth quarter, shooting 11.8% in the frame.

Outside of personnel and location, if there was a big difference in the play of the game from last season's championship game meeting, it was the "whistles." In the championship game, which involved an additional 10 minutes of play (two overtimes), the two teams combined for 39 free-throw attempts and 32 fouls were called. Saturday, the two teams were whistled for 47 fouls and it led to 54 free-throw attempts. LCU out-scored SWOSU 22-18 from the line.

There were seven lead changes in the first half. SWOSU, thriving off an 8-0 run, had an 18-17 lead after the opening quarter. Maddie Sperle led SWOSU with 14 points in the half. LCU was 5-of-14 (35.7%) from the field in each of the first two quarters and received 10 points from Maddi Chitsey to lead to a 33-33 halftime score.

LCU's 53.8% shooting in the fourth quarter led them to a 40.7% shooting mark for the game (22/54). Chitsey led all scorers with 20 points and was a +18 in plus/minus. LCU also received 12 points from Ashton Duncan (also added a +14 plus/minus) and 11 points from Laynee Burr. Juliana Robertson (12) and Cunyus (nine) each posted career-high rebound marks for LCU. Robertson also posted a career-high four blocks.

SWOSU, falling to 3-1 on the season, received 19 points from Sperle. Freshman Tramble was solid for the Bulldogs, posting 11 points, six assists and four steals. Beer finished the game with four three-pointers and 12 points. The Bulldogs were 28.8% (17/59) from the field. The two teams were plagued by a combined 35 turnovers (19 by LCU), which led to a 22-10 scoring advantage in points-off-turnovers for SWOSU.