Women's Basketball 2/1/2012 4:02:00 PM

OCU at Oklahoma Baptist women's basketball preview

Emily Davis averages 3.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game for the Stars.

6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2
Noble Complex in Shawnee, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: No. 1 Oklahoma City University looks to wrap up its 14th consecutive 20-win season in a road contest against Sooner Athletic Conference rival Oklahoma Baptist.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars survived a 70-69 scare on the road against Northwestern Oklahoma State Saturday at Percefull Fieldhouse in Alva, Okla. The win pushed the Stars to 19-1 overall and 13-1 in SAC play.
Guard Dietra Caldwell led the charge for the Stars with 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting. The 5-foot-8 senior leads the team in scoring at just over 13 points per game. Caldwell is ranked third in NAIA Division I in assists/turnover ratio, passing out 3.6 assists to every one turnover.
Junior Desiree Jeffries hit the eventual game-winning shot against Northwestern. The forward from Oklahoma City posted 13 points in the contest on 5-for-6 shooting from the floor in the game. Jeffries leads the Stars in defensive rebounds with 89, and is second in total rebounds with 127.
Nicollette Smith, of Tulsa, Okla., posted her season average of 11 points in 19 minutes of action Saturday. The senior center shoots 47.3 percent from the floor and averages 4.0 rebounds per game.
The Stars currently sit first in the nation in scoring margin, outscoring opponents by 35.8 points per game, and are ranked in the top-10 in 15 statistical categories. To see where OCU stacks up statistically with the rest of the NAIA, click here.
The Stars regained the top spot in the latest NAIA Division I poll, and have been ranked in the top-25 poll 147 times in a row. OCU is currently second in the SAC standings, and was favored the win the conference in the preseason.
The Stars own a 41-22 all-time series lead against Oklahoma Baptist. In their last meeting the Lady Bison upset OCU 77-71 in the SAC tournament quarterfinals.

ABOUT THE LADY BISON: Oklahoma Baptist fell 65-52 on the road to John Brown (Ark.) Saturday in Siloam Springs, Ark. The Lady Bison check in at 11-11 overall and 7-7 in SAC play.
Bridget Reynolds paced Oklahoma Baptist with 14 points and eight rebounds. The senior forward averages 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
Guard Ashton Pittman added 11 points on 4-for-9 shooting from the field. Pittman averages 10 points per game and leads the Lady Bison in free-throw shooting at 82 percent from the line.
Junior Lillian Prince chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds. Prince leads Oklahoma Baptist in scoring with 13.2 points per game, and is 13th in the nation in field goal percentage at 52 percent from the floor.
Oklahoma Baptist is eighth in NAIA Division I in total 3-point field goals made with 163 and eleventh in 3-point field goals made per game with 7.4. The Lady Bison are tied for fifth in the SAC standings and were picked to finish seventh in the preseason.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Rob Edmisson has posted a stellar 196-31 record in his seventh season at OCU and a 498-150 record overall in his 22nd season as a head coach. Edmisson, a two-time SAC coach of the year, has led the Stars to SAC regular-season championships four times and four SAC Tournament titles. Edmisson coached the only player drafted into the WNBA from OCU, Mariam Sy, as well as six others who turned professional. He won 192 games at Hutchinson (Kan.) and 110 as a high-school coach in Kansas.
John McCullough owns a 268-126 record in his 12th season as Oklahoma Baptist head coach. McCullough led the Lady Bison to 10 consecutive national-tournament appearances from 2001 to 2010.

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 or see our video channel in the upper right-hand corner of our home page.
Know when the game is happening by calling the OCU athletics hotline at (405) 208-5400. Get conference scores and highlights by calling the SAC Hotline at (405) 878-2110.

ON THE AIR: OCU athletics has partnered with Stretch Internet to provide live and on-demand audio, stats and video of the Stars' games. Greg Merick will provide the play-by-play, while Eric Rodgers will give the commentary. To access the live audio for the game, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here.
OBU will provide live stats and video of the game. To watch the game or follow the game via live stats, click here.

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