1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29
Hutcherson Center in Plainview, Texas
THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University looks to bounce back from its first loss of the season as the Stars finish up a two-game Texas road trip at Wayland Baptist (Texas).
ABOUT THE STARS: OCU suffered its first loss of the season in a top-25 showdown with Lubbock Christian (Texas) on Thursday in Lubbock, Texas. The Stars fell 68-67 when a last-second shot by Donica Cosby missed the mark. OCU, ranked No. 2 in NAIA Division I, moved to 17-1, 12-1 in SAC play. OCU's 17-0 start was its best since going 34-0 in 2002-03 before finishing as NAIA Division I runner-up. The Stars' scoring was led by Cosby, a 5-foot-8 senior from Coldwater, Miss., with a game-high 14 points in the tough loss. Cosby, a 2010 all-American, averages 11.3 points, 4.3 assists and 2.11 steals per game for OCU.
Desiree Jeffries, a 6-0 sophomore from Oklahoma City, contributed 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Stars. Jeffries posts 9.7 points and 4.6 rebounds a game on average. Breezy Martin, a 5-11 senior from Oklahoma City, netted 11 points and four rebounds for OCU. Martin averages 6.3 points and 2.9 rebounds a night.
Lauren Gober, a 6-1 sophomore from Newcastle, Okla., leads the team with 13.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest. She is second in the NAIA in 3-point field goal percentage, sinking 48.5 percent of her attempts from beyond the arc. Starr Fairbanks, a 6-2 senior from Cincinnati, is third in the NAIA hitting 63.7 percent of her shots from the field.
OCU is in the Top 10 in 12 statistical team categories. The Stars lead NAIA Division I with a 49.3 percent team shooting percentage and an average victory margin of 33.3 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 28-18 all-time record against Wayland Baptist. In the last meeting, OCU dominated the Flying Queens 94-51 on Dec. 2 at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars were led by 20 points apiece by Gober and Taylor Booze. Booze also put up six assists and six steals for OCU in the victory.
ABOUT THE FLYING QUEENS: The Flying Queens held off a late rally by Mid-America Christian and came away with a 72-66 victory on Thursday. It was the fourth straight win for the Wayland Baptist women, who improved to 12-8 overall.
Alex Williams, a 5-11 junior, posted 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Flying Queens. Williams averages 11.2 points and 7.8 rebounds a night and has a team-high 29 blocks this season.
Erika Raymond, a 5-11 junior, added 16 points in the win. Raymond leads the team with 16.6 points a game. The 2010 honorable mention all-American also contributes 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists on average. Jessen Tucker, a 5-9 junior, came off the bench to put in 15 points. Tucker puts up 9.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists for the Flying Queens.
Wayland Baptist started the season in a three-way tie for fourth in the Sooner Athletic Conference coaches' preseason poll.
ABOUT THE COACHES: Rob Edmisson has posted a stellar 167-27 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.
Tory Bryant is in his fourth season at the helm of the Flying Queens program, posting a 66-50 record in his tenure. He took Lubbock Christian to the NAIA national tournament in 2009. Bryant led Lubbock Trinity Christian High School (Texas) to a 96-19 record and two state championships.
QUOTABLE: “We will find out a lot about ourselves after suffering our first loss. We did not handle adversity well in our loss, and we hope that experience will help us continue to develop as a team. Saturday's game will be a good test to see how our kids handle the disappointment of getting beat.” – 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.
Check out OCU's 2010-11 women's basketball media guide 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.
OCU HOSTS THE SAC TOURNAMENT: The nation's premier NAIA basketball conference stages its postseason tournament at Abe Lemons Arena on the campus of Oklahoma City University on March 3-5. You'll want to be part of the action as NAIA Division I Tournament berths will be at stake in the Sooner Athletic Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments. For information, visit the tournament page.
ON THE AIR: To watch Wayland Baptist's live video stream, listen to the live broadcast or follow via live stats, click here.
