Women's Basketball 11/9/2012 2:29:00 PM

OCU in Southwestern Classic women's basketball preview

Jessica Lankston posted five points and two steals Saturday.

5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9
at Southwestern Oklahoma State
1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10
vs. Northeastern State
Rankin Williams Fieldhouse in Weatherford, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University anticipates hotly contested battles against in-state rivals Southwestern Oklahoma State and Northeastern State this weekend.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars walloped Evangel (Mo.) 86-53 on homecoming Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU (1-0) overwhelmed Evangel with a 43-7 advantage in points off turnovers as Evangel gave away the ball 26 times.
Katie Hall, a 6-foot senior from Hazleton, Idaho, provided the Stars 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists while hitting 8 of 11 shots from the floor. Hall averaged 12.4 points and 10.1 rebounds in becoming first-team all-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference for Western State (Colo.) last season.
Lauren Gober, a 6-2 senior from Newcastle, Okla., notched 19 points, four rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals vs. Evangel. A two-time all-American, Gober has piled up 1,220 career points. Ravven Brown, a 5-6 senior from Duluth, Ga., and Kayla MacKenzie, a 5-6 junior from Peoria, Ariz., each scored 10 points Saturday.
The Stars has been ranked 10th in NAIA Division I in the preseason rankings. Defending national champion OCU has been listed in all 154 polls since 1999-2000. The Stars own national championships from 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2012. SAC coaches predicted OCU would finish third place in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
OCU has a 9-7 edge over Southwestern in the overall series. The Stars defeated Southwestern 79-70 on Nov. 20, 2009 in Weatherford, Okla. Holly Hardin spearheaded OCU with 27 points and nine rebounds.
Against Northeastern, OCU owns a 10-6 record in the all-time series. OCU won 75-70 in the last meeting on Feb. 12, 1996 in Tahlequah, Okla. Lenora Love led OCU with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS: Southwestern pounced on Oklahoma Baptist 71-53 in an exhibition Monday in Shawnee, Okla. Kimmi Sawatzky, a 5-8 sophomore, had 13 points, four rebounds and two steals.
SaRaya Oyler, a 5-8 senior, contributed 11.0 points and 4.9 rebounds as Southwestern went 20-9 last season. Southwestern has been picked to finish third in the Great American Conference.

ABOUT THE RIVERHAWKS: Northeastern State enters the season ranked 23rd in NCAA Division II according to the coaches ratings. Northeastern is expected to finish fourth in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
Northeastern returns Taylor Lewis off its 25-5 team from last season. Lewis, a 5-7 senior, compiled 12.2 points and 2.3 rebounds a game in 2011-12. Northeastern reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division II South Central Regional last season.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Latricia Trammell enters her first season as head coach of the Stars. Trammell returns to OCU after serving as Western State (Colo.) head coach the past five seasons. At Western State, Trammell had 13 all-RMAC selections, including the RMAC West Division freshman of the year and RMAC player of the year. Trammell was assistant coach at OCU from 2005-07. As an assistant at OCU, Trammell mentored the Stars' first WNBA draftee, Mariam Sy of the Washington Mystics, 10 all-conference choices, the SAC player of the year, SAC newcomer of the year and four all-Americans. Trammell also spent time as head coach at Midwest City High School and Bill Ryan High School (Texas).
Kelsi Musick has guided Southwestern to a 35-57 ledger in three seasons. Her younger sister, Kenzi Bond, aided OCU to three NAIA championship games from 2003-05.
Randy Gipson has led Northeastern to a 259-121 record with seven NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and six Lone Star Conference North Division titles in 13 seasons. Gipson led Northeastern A&M to an NJCAA runner-up finish in 1991 in his 11 seasons coaching there prior to coming to NSU.

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/ocustars.
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.
Know when the game is happening by calling the OCU athletics hotline at (405) 208-5400.

ON THE AIR: Southwestern will provide live stats and video of each game this weekend. To watch the game, click here. To follow the game via live stats, click here.

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