3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26
Abe Lemons Arena
THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University and Southern Nazarene face off with the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season championship at stake in the NAIA's most heated women's basketball rivalry.
OCU and Southern Nazarene have combined for 24 Sooner Athletic Conference championships, 16 of 17 SAC Tournament titles and 12 NAIA Division I championships. The two played for the national championship each year from 2002-04, with the Stars capturing the NAIA title in 2002.
ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars walloped USAO 89-54 on Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU (24-2, 19-2) took advantage of 35 USAO turnovers to pick up the win.
Donica Cosby, a 5-foot-8 senior from Coldwater, Miss., compiled 18 points, three rebounds, six assists and two steals. Cosby averages 13.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.04 steals per game.
Desiree Jeffries, a 6-foot sophomore from Oklahoma City, notched 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Jeffries averages 10.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists a game. K.J. Johnson, a 6-2 senior from Portland, Ore., came off the bench to provide 11 points, three rebounds and four blocked shots. Johnson chips in 5.1 points and 2.4 rebounds a game. Lauren Gober, a 6-2 sophomore from Newcastle, Okla., leads the Stars with 13.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.65 blocked shots a game.
OCU leads NAIA Division I with a 48.8 percent team shooting percentage and an average victory margin of 31.2 points a game. The Stars rank second with 87.3 points scored and 18.8 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 – 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010. Five-time national champion OCU entered the season tied for the most wins in NAIA women's basketball since 2000-01. OCU has notched 12 consecutive 25-win seasons.
Southern Nazarene leads the overall series vs. OCU 35-31. The Stars prevailed 73-57 on Jan. 13 at Abe Lemons Arena behind Cosby's 26 points.
ABOUT THE CRIMSON STORM: Southern Nazarene captured its fourth consecutive league road win with a 48-28 victory over Mid-America Christian on Thursday in Oklahoma City. Southern Nazarene (24-5, 18-3 SAC) held Mid-America to 19.6 percent shooting from the field.
Sharmeda Johnson,a 6-foot juniorand Oumoul Thiam, a 6-foot sophomore, each scored 12 points to lead Southern Nazarene. Johnson, who added 13 rebounds, averages 9.4 points and 7.1 rebounds a game. Jamie Bottger, a 5-10 sophomore, chipped in 10 points. Logan Martin, a 5-9 junior, tops Southern Nazarene with 15.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.59 steals per contest.
Southern Nazarene is ranked 18th in NAIA Division I. The Storm were picked tied for fourth in the preseason SAC coaches poll.
POSTSEASON IMPLICATIONS: OCU has already clinched the No. 1 seed in the SAC Tournament based on the record vs. common opponents tiebreaker with SNU. OCU went 1-1 vs. Lubbock Christian (Texas), while SNU went 0-2.
With a win, OCU would clinch the outright SAC regular-season championship.
With a loss, OCU would share the SAC regular-season championship with SNU.
ABOUT THE COACHES: Rob Edmisson has posted a stellar 174-28 record in his sixth season at OCU and a 476-147 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.
Lori Carter owns a 192-73 record in her seventh season guiding Southern Nazarene. Including three seasons at St. Gregory's, Carter has a 231-126 record as a head coach. Carter, the SAC coach of the year in 2001, 2007 and 2009, played for SNU from 1989-92 and served as an assistant at OCU from 1996-98 before leading the Storm to the 2004 NAIA championship.
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: 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.
SNU will provide live stats and live video of the game. Click here for the live stats and here for the live video stream.
