Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals
2:15 p.m. Thursday, March 3
Abe Lemons Arena
THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University begins its quest for its fourth Sooner Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament championship in a row in a quarterfinal matchup with Oklahoma Baptist.
OCU has won SAC Tournament crowns in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students.
ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars captured the SAC regular-season championship outright with a 66-60 triumph over Southern Nazarene on Saturday in Bethany, Okla. OCU (25-2) picked up its 12th SAC regular-season title and 13th consecutive 25-win season.
Donica Cosby, a 5-foot-8 senior from Coldwater, Miss., put together 13 points, three rebounds and two assists. A two-time first-team all-SAC performer, Cosby averages 13.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.00 steals per game.
Desiree Jeffries, a 6-foot sophomore from Oklahoma City, added 13 points and a season-high eight rebounds. Jeffries contributes 10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists a game. Lauren Gober, a 6-2 sophomore from Newcastle, Okla., had 12 points, two assists and two steals. She leads the Stars with 13.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.67 blocked shots a game.
OCU leads NAIA Division I with an average victory margin of 30.3 points a game. The Stars rank second with 86.6 points scored and sixth with 56.3 points allowed 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. Five-time national champion OCU entered the season tied for the most wins in NAIA women's basketball since 2000-01.
OCU leads the overall series vs. Oklahoma Baptist 41-21. The Stars won 98-64 on Feb. 19 in Shawnee, Okla. Taylor Booze topped OCU with 21 points and seven steals.
ABOUT THE LADY BISON: Oklahoma Baptist fell 84-71 to Oklahoma Christian on Saturday in Shawnee, Okla. Oklahoma Christian sank 14 3-pointers against Oklahoma Baptist (11-19).
Gabriell Mattox,a 5-11 senior, totaled 22 points, five rebounds and four assists. Mattox records 18.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists a game. Samantha Smith, a 6-2 senior, had 17 points and seven rebounds. Smith averages 15.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.90 blocked shots a game.
ABOUT THE COACHES: Rob Edmisson has posted a stellar 175-28 record in his sixth season at OCU and a 477-147 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.
John McCullough has gone 256-114 record in his 11th season as Oklahoma Baptist coach, 291-183 overall as a head coach. McCullough has led Oklahoma Baptist to 10 consecutive national-tournament appearances.
QUOTABLE: “I just told the kids I thought our kids showed a gutsy effort today. Southern Nazarene has got a tremendous ballclub. I've only lost one time in here, and I thought it was a national tournament-type game. Obviously the atmosphere in here was challenging for us. I thought our kids showed a really gutsy effort at times when we needed to.” – Edmisson on Saturday's performance
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 presented by Twid's. For information, visit the tournament page.
OCU SAC TOURNAMENT BROADCASTS BROUGHT TO YOU BY: All About Car Care with Scotty Dee, Benchmark Financial Group, Inc., Black Diamond Retrievers, Brandi Levings, Redbud Realty & Associates, Campbell Metal Works, Central Oklahoma Frontier Country, Dr. Gary A. Rouse, OMS Technologies, Rite Tech Cell Phone & Computer Repair, Win Shelton State Farm Agency and XL Specialized Trailers.
ON THE AIR: The game will be broadcast via the OCU athletics web site. Greg Merick provides the play-by-play, while Andrew Himes gives the analysis. Click here to listen to the broadcast, here for the live stats and here to access the live video stream.
To order the video of all the quarterfinal tournament games on ocusports.com/showcase, click on "SAC Tournament - Day 1." Then either enter a user name and password or select "Sign up for a new all-access subscription."
