Women's Basketball 1/23/2013 5:02:00 PM

OCU at St. Gregory's women's basketball preview

Stars look to stay undefeated against NAIA competition

Tiffany Bellamy has appeared in 14 of OCU's games this season.

6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24
W.P. Wood Field House in Shawnee, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University seeks a Sooner Athletic Conference road win against St. Gregory's.
The Stars' Lauren Gober sits eight points shy of 1,500 for her career.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU trounced Mid-America Christian 75-49 on Tuesday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (15-2, 7-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) held Mid-America to 36.2 percent shooting from the field in improving to 15-0 against NAIA opponents this season.
Gober, a 6-foot-2 senior from Newcastle, Okla., supplied OCU with 23 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and three steals. She hit 9 of her 14 shots from the field. Gober records 17.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.12 steals a game. A two-time all-American, Gober has amassed 1,492 points, 618 rebounds 144 assists, 204 steals, 85 blocks and an OCU-record 268 3-pointers as a Star.
Katie Hall, a 6-foot senior from Hazelton, Idaho, totaled 12 points, 13 rebounds and three assists. She pulled down 10 offensive rebounds in posting her fifth double-double of the season. Hall compiles 12.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.29 steals a game while leading the league in rebounding. Hall has piled up 1,149 career points – 944 while playing three seasons for Western State (Colo.). Desiree Jeffries, a 6-foot senior from Oklahoma City, added 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Jeffries averages 11.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.82 steals a game.
OCU leads NAIA Division I in scoring margin (33.4 points a game) and turnover margin (plus-12.5). The Stars rank in the top five nationally in seven team statistical categories. Individually, Jessica Lankston's 91.7 percent free-throw percentage and Gober's 3.00 3-pointers per game rank second in the NAIA. To see how the Stars rank among national statistics, click here.
The Stars stayed in the fourth spot in the latest NAIA Division I rankings. Defending national champion OCU has been listed in all 159 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 won or shared the SAC regular-season crown 13 times – in 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
OCU improved to 33-1 against St. Gregory's all-time with a 96-41 romp past the Lady Cavaliers in the SAC Tournament semifinals March 2, 2012 in Siloam Springs, Ark. Gober chipped in 13 points and four rebounds.

ABOUT THE LADY CAVALIERS: Rogers State edged St. Gregory's 61-59 on Saturday in Claremore, Okla. Logan Froese of Rogers State blocked Ayrionna Taylor's 3-point attempt as time expired to send St. Gregory's to 7-12, 0-5 in league play.
Taylor, a 5-10 freshman, produced 14 points and eight rebounds. Taylor contributes 9.6 points and 3.6 a game in 2012-13. Leticia Silva, a 5-10 senior, had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Fowler averages 15.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest.
St. Gregory's had been pegged to finish sixth in the SAC by conference coaches in the preseason.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Latricia Trammell is in the midst of 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 Denton Bill Ryan High School (Texas).
Herman Burge took over as St. Gregory's coach in May. Burge had been assistant coach at Stetson. Burge spent two seasons playing for OCU, averaging 9.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.78 steals a game as a sophomore for Win Case in 2004-05.

QUOTABLE: “She is the best kept secret. Katie is our starting post player, and she received her 1,000th career point recently, and that is pretty good for a young lady that doesn't shoot 3-pointers.” – Trammell on Hall

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. 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. Andrew Himes provides the play-by-play for the Stars. To listen to the game, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here.

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