6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 1
Abe Lemons Arena
THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University resumes its season against Sooner Athletic Conference foe Rogers State after the holiday break.
Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 students and free to OCU students, faculty and staff with their ID.
ABOUT THE STARS: OCUrouted Mid-America Christian 74-45 on Dec. 9 in Oklahoma City. The Stars (9-0, 4-0 SAC) limited Mid-America's shooting percentage from the field to 34 percent, 29.2 percent in the second half. Mid-America hit 1 of 11 3-point attempts.
Lauren Gober, a 6-foot-2 sophomore from Newcastle, Okla., topped the Stars with 20 points and six rebounds. She hit a season-high seven free throws. Gober, the 2010 SAC freshman of the year, leads OCU with 14.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.00 block a game. Her 50 percent 3-point shooting percentage ranks seventh in NAIA Division I.
Donica Cosby, a 5-8 senior from Coldwater, Miss., chipped in 15 points and three assists. Cosby, a 2010 first-team all-American, records 11.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and a team-high 2.44 steals per contest. Desiree Jeffries, a 6-foot sophomore from Oklahoma City, had nine points and two assists. Jeffries averages 10.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists a game.
OCU leads NAIA Division I with a 51.5 percent team shooting percentage, 20.7 assists a game, 1.22 assists per turnover and an average victory margin of 38.9 points a game. To see where OCU stacks up statistically in the NAIA, click here.
The Stars were second in the latest NAIA Division I rankings. SAC coaches placed OCU as the heavy favorite to win the league title. OCU has won or shared the SAC regular-season crown 11 times. Five-time national champion OCU entered the season tied for the most wins in NAIA women's basketball since 2000-01.
OCU owns a 7-0 all-time record against Rogers State. The Stars edged Rogers State 68-62 on Feb. 6, 2010 at Abe Lemons Arena. Cosby had 18 points and four assists.
ABOUT THE HILLCATS: John Brown (Ark.) nipped Rogers State 65-63 on Dec. 11 in Siloam Springs, Ark. Angie Criner tied the game on a 3-pointer with 33 seconds left, but Kortni Kendrick answered for John Brown with a layup at seven seconds remaining for the game-winning bucket. Rogers State fell to 7-4, 1-3 in the SAC.
Criner, a 5-7 junior, spearheaded Rogers State with 20 points and nine rebounds. Criner averages 12.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.00 steals a game. Candice Stewart, a 6-foot senior, posted 16 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Stewart leads Rogers State with 12.9 points and 8.0 rebounds a game.
SAC coaches pegged Rogers State to finish seventh in the league in the preseason.
ABOUT THE COACHES: Rob Edmisson has posted a stellar 159-26 record in his sixth season at OCU and a 461-145 record overall in his 21st season as a head coach. Edmisson, a two-time SAC coach of the year, has led the Stars to SAC regular-season championships three times and three SAC Tournament titles. Edmisson coached the only player drafted into the WNBA from OCU, Mariam Sy. He won 192 games at Hutchinson (Kan.) and 110 as a high-school coach in Kansas.
Amy Williams has a 59-47 record in her fourth season as the first women's basketball coach ever at Rogers State. Edmisson and Williams were on the same coaching staff at Oklahoma State.
QUOTABLE: “We don't play until Jan. 1, so it's a little bit of a long break and that always concerns you. It's a deserved break. Our kids have had a good first semester. We're excited about where we're headed.” – Edmisson
FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest on OCU athletics through several ways.
Be sure to catch the OCU Athletics Update video program weekly on ocusports.com, the OCU YouTube Channel or on OCU Athletics' Facebook page. Click here to see the latest edition or see our video channel in the upper right-hand corner of our home page.
Listen to past game broadcasts and pregame and postgame interviews on the OCU pod center by clicking here.
Know when the game is happening and get scores and highlights following by calling the OCU athletics hotline at (405) 208-5400. Get conference scores and highlights by calling the SAC Hotline at (405) 878-2110.
ON THE AIR: The game will be broadcast via the OCU athletics web site. Greg Merick and Andrew Himes will call the game. Click here to listen to the broadcast, here for the live stats and here to access the video stream.
To order the video on ocusports.com/showcase, click on "Women's Basketball vs. Rogers State." Then either enter a user name and password or select "Sign up for a new all-access subscription."
