Women's Basketball 11/26/2013 4:32:00 PM

OCU in Capital City Classic women's basketball preview

Stars meet Langston, then 15th-ranked Xavier

Kayla MacKenzie had five points, three rebounds and three steals Saturday.

7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 28
vs. Langston
7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29
vs. Xavier (La.)
Abe Lemons Arena

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University hosts the Capital City Classic featuring three top 25-ranked teams.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, while OCU students, faculty and staff are allowed into all regular-season OCU athletics events for free with their ID. OCU will collect canned foods to provide for Skyline Urban Ministry in Oklahoma City at the door. OCU student-athletes have collected approximately 26,000 food items for needy in the community through their annual food drive over the past six years.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars opened the season by trouncing Austin (Texas) 100-48 on Saturday in Sherman, Texas. OCU reached 100 points for the fifth time under coach Latricia Trammell. Austin College gathered 524 canned food items for the OCU canned food drive.
Ouleymatou Coulibaly, a 6-foot-2 junior from Bamako, Mali, West Africa, turned in 25 points and 13 rebounds to earn Sooner Athletic Conference player of the week. Coulibaly sank 11 of 17 shots from the field. Eight of her rebounds were on the offensive end.
Autumn Lau, a 5-10 senior from Mount Wolf, Pa., recorded 18 points, seven rebounds and two 3-pointers. Lau contributed six of OCU's 31 offensive rebounds. Yvonte Neal, a 5-7 junior from Spring Valley, Calif., posted 16 points, five assists and two steals.
OCU top the NAIA in scoring offense, steals per game (22.0), turnover margin (plus-23) and victory margin. To see where OCU ranked against the NAIA statistically last season, click here.
The Stars garnered the No. 2 spot in the preseason national rankings, picking up three out of a possible seven No. 1 votes. Defending national champion OCU has been listed in all 166 polls since 1999-2000. The Stars own national championships from 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2012. SAC coaches predicted OCU would win the league title. OCU has won or shared the SAC regular-season crown 14 times.
OCU holds a 26-1 advantage in the all-time series against Langston. The Stars won 68-49 on Nov. 13, 2012 at Abe Lemons Arena. Kayla MacKenzie chipped in 12 points, while Lauren Gober poured in 25 points and seven 3-pointers.
OCU has gone 4-0 against Xavier (La.) over the years. In the Las Vegas Hoopla, the Stars dealt Xavier an 86-48 setback Dec. 20, 2011 in Las Vegas. OCU entered the matchup ranked No. 1, while Xavier was No. 16.

ABOUT THE LIONS: Langston rolled to an 80-62 win over USAO on Saturday in Langston, Okla. Langston (3-4) shot 39.5 percent from the field, but held USAO to 34.5 percent shooting.
Lynette Holmes, a 6-1 junior, compiled 28 points and 13 rebounds on Saturday. Holmes collects 25.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.43 blocked shots a game. Jasmyne Randolph, a 5-5 senior, picked up 15 points, seven rebounds and six steals. Randolph contributes 7.6 points and 3.3 rebounds a game.
Langston has been picked to finish fifth place in the 10-team Red River Athletic Conference before the season.

ABOUT THE GOLD NUGGETS: Xavier hammered Texas College 75-47 on Nov. 23 in New Orleans. Texas College committed 39 turnovers, which Xavier (4-2) turned into 42 points.
Whitney Gaston-Loyd, a 6-foot senior, registered 12 points and eight rebounds in Xavier's homecoming contest. Loyd averages 7.5 points and 3.5 rebounds a game. Whitney Gathright, a 5-4 sophomore, had 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and five steals. Gathright supplies Xavier with 12.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.67 steals per game.
Xavier, ranked 15th, has been installed as the preseason favorite to win the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Latricia Trammell reeled off a 28-4 record and became conference coach of the year in her first season as OCU head coach in 2012-13. She has a 93-80 record in six seasons as a college head coach. Trammell returned to OCU last season after serving as Western State (Colo.) head coach from 2007-12. As a head coach, Trammell has coached three all-Americans and 17 all-conference selections, including the co-SAC player of the year, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference player of the year and RMAC West Division freshman of the year. Trammell was assistant coach at OCU from 2005-07. As an assistant at OCU from 2005-07, 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).
David Johnson has a 14-21 record in his second season as Langston coach. His assistant, Natasha Doh, became SAC freshman of the year while playing for OCU in 2004-05.
Bo Browder has guided Xavier to a 352-119 record in his 16th season. Xavier has made four consecutive national-tournament appearances with 12 consecutive 20-win seasons and three GCAC regular-season titles in four years under Browder.

THE SCHEDULE: Thursday – Oklahoma Baptist vs. Xavier, 5 p.m.; Oklahoma City vs. Langston, 7 p.m.; Friday – Oklahoma Baptist vs. Langston, 5 p.m.; Oklahoma City vs. Xavier, 7 p.m.

FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest on OCU athletics through several ways.
Help OCU win an NAIA contest and gain more followers on social media in 2013-14. 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: OCU athletics has partnered with Stretch Internet to provide live and on-demand audio, stats and video of the Stars' games. Live audio, stats and video will be provided for the OCU games, while the early games will have live stats and video. Andrew Himes will call the OCU games. To access the live audio, stats or video for the games, visit OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here.
The live audio and stats will be provided free of charge, while the cost to see the video will be $7.95. A women's basketball season pass that allows you to see all the Stars' 2013-14 home games costs $29.95, while a 2013-14 all-sports pass costs $79.95.

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