6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24
Abe Lemons Arena
THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University faces USAO on Think Pink Night. Fans are invited to wear pink to show their solidarity against breast cancer.
The Stars will also recognize their seniors – Donica Cosby, Starr Fairbanks, K.J. Johnson, Breezy Martin, Fanee Webster and Chasity Workman.
Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students. OCU students, faculty and staff get free admission with their university ID.
ABOUT THE STARS: OCU routed Northwestern Oklahoma State 99-43 on Monday at Abe Lemons Arena. Stars reserves scored 45 points. OCU improved to 23-2, 18-2 Sooner Athletic Conference.
Starr Fairbanks, a 6-foot-2 senior from Cincinnati, topped OCU with 20 points. Fairbanks sank 7 of her 10 shots from the field and grabbed four rebounds. Fairbanks records 11.4 points and 3.8 rebounds a game and hits a team-high 61.1 percent of her shots from the floor.
Lauren Gober, a 6-2 sophomore from Newcastle, Okla., chipped in 17 points and three rebounds. Gober shot 5-for-8 from 3-point range. Gober, last season's SAC freshman of the year, leads OCU with 13.8 points and 5.5 rebounds a contest. Taylor Booze, a 5-8 junior from Duncanville, Texas, and Desiree Jeffries, a 6-foot sophomore from Oklahoma City, each scored 13 points.
OCU have been ranked among the team leaders in NAIA Division I in field-goal percentage, average victory margin, assists per game, points per game, turnover margin and assist-to-turnover ratio. 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 improved its record against USAO to 41-3 after an 80-49 victory on Jan. 15 in Chickasha, Okla. Gober spearheaded the Stars with 20 points and nine rebounds.
ABOUT THE LADY DROVERS: Rogers State knocked off USAO 69-57 on Saturday in Chickasha, Okla. USAO (7-20, 3-17 SAC) managed only one double-figure scorer.
Aita Gueye, a 5-8 senior, put together 19 points, five steals and two blocked shots. Gueye averages 14.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.75 steals a game. Vernisha Moss, a 6-foot sophomore, had nine points and six rebounds. Moss supplies USAO with 7.7 points and 5.7 rebounds a game.
SAC coaches predicted USAO would finish last in the league in the preseason.
ABOUT THE COACHES: Rob Edmisson has posted a stellar 173-28 record in his sixth season at OCU and a 475-147 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.
Laci Tompkins has a 13-41 record in her second season as USAO coach. Tompkins played basketball at USAO from 1991-95, then spent four seasons as an assistant coach under George Davidson at USAO. She spent nine seasons on the junior-college level as Redlands (Okla.) head coach.
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 view the tournament commercial, click here.
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. USAO." Then either enter a user name and password or select "Sign up for a new all-access subscription."
