6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17
Abe Lemons Arena
THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University puts its 29-game homecourt winning streak on the line against St. Gregory's.
Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 students and free to OCU students, faculty and staff with their ID.
ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars knocked off John Brown (Ark.) 75-54 on Monday at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU (20-2, 15-2 SAC) notched its 13th consecutive 20-win season.
Lauren Gober, a 6-foot-2 sophomore from Newcastle, Okla., paced OCU with 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists and four steals. Gober, the 2010 SAC freshman of the year, tops OCU with 13.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.09 steals and 0.82 blocked shots a game.
Donica Cosby, a 5-8 senior from Coldwater, Miss., recorded 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Cosby puts together 12.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.05 steals per game. Desiree Jeffries, a 6-foot sophomore from Oklahoma City, had 12 points and two rebounds. Jeffries averages 10.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists a game.
OCU leads NAIA Division I with a 48.5 percent team shooting percentage and an average victory margin of 29.7 points a game. The Stars rank second with 86.5 points scored and 18.7 assists 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 has gone 29-1 against St. Gregory's over the years. The Stars pounded St. Gregory's 95-35 on Jan. 22 in Shawnee, Okla. Gober totaled 24 points as OCU held St. Gregory's to 11 second-half points.
ABOUT THE LADY CAVALIERS: Wayland Baptist (Texas) notched a 91-59 win over St. Gregory's on Saturday in Plainview, Texas. St. Gregory's (6-18, 2-15 SAC) managed only 24 rebounds to Wayland Baptist's 52.
Leticia Silva, a 5-7 sophomore, had 19 points and four rebounds. Silva averages 15.4 points and 5.8 rebounds a game. Jalisa Howard, a 5-7 junior, picked up 18 points, four rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Howard compiles 12.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.08 steals a game.
St. Gregory's had been predicted to finish 11th in the league in the preseason.
ABOUT THE COACHES: Rob Edmisson has posted a stellar 170-28 record in his sixth season at OCU and a 472-147 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 four 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.
St. Gregory's has a 17-66 record under Kelly Archer, who is in his third season as St. Gregory's coach. Archer led Hillsdale Baptist to five national titles in the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association prior to his arrival at St. Gregory's.
QUOTABLE: “We just listed up on the board we've got five conference games left. We put it in bracket play where St. Gregory's is our first-round national tournament game, and we're going to play the last five games like the national tournament with the understanding that you've got to get to SNU and the national championship game and win it to win the conference. We've already got our bracket on the board in the locker room and we're seeded, we're a No. 1 seed and we're playing five games. I told them if you want to experience a national championship, you've got to win five games in a row and that's what we've got to do to finish out this season.” – Edmisson on OCU's mindset during the remaining regular-season games
FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest on OCU athletics through several ways.
Become a fan of the Oklahoma City University Stars on Facebook by going to www.facebook.com/ocustars.
Become a follower of the OCU Stars on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ocustars. Check out video of the Stars in action at www.youtube.com/oklahomacityuniver.
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. To see a promotional video for the tournament, see here.
ON THE AIR: The game will be broadcast via the OCU athletics web site. Greg Merick serves as the play-by-play man, while Andrew Himes will be the analyst. 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. St. Gregory's." Then either enter a user name and password or select "Sign up for a new all-access subscription."
