Women's Basketball 2/1/2013 8:33:00 AM

OCU vs. Lubbock Christian women's basketball preview

Squads ranked in NAIA's top three square off

Jessica Lankston sinks 92.3 percent of her free throws to rank second in the NAIA this season.

Noon Saturday, Feb. 2
Abe Lemons Arena

THE MATCHUP: The NAIA women's basketball game of the week features Oklahoma City University vs. Lubbock Christian (Texas) in a contest between Sooner Athletic Conference teams ranked in the top five nationally.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students. OCU students, faculty and staff get in free to all Stars regular-season home events with their university ID.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU demolished Wayland Baptist (Texas) 81-48 on Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (17-2, 9-0 SAC) extended the NAIA's longest current win streak to 16 and their winning string against NAIA competition to 38. OCU's last loss came Nov. 10 against Northeastern State in Weatherford, Okla., while Lubbock Christian dealt OCU its last setback to an NAIA team on Jan. 12, 2012 at Abe Lemons Arena.
Katie Hall, a 6-foot senior from Hazelton, Idaho, propelled OCU with 14 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, four blocked shots and two steals. Hall recorded her team-high seventh double-double of the season. She has scored 1,185 points in her college career – 944 in her three-year stint with Western State (Colo.). Hall, who was SAC player of the week, posts 12.7 points, 9.4 points and 1.42 steals a game plus a 58.8 percent field-goal percentage.
Lauren Gober, a 6-2 senior from Newcastle, Okla., picked up 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals. A two-time all-American, Gober has collected 1,515 points, 631 rebounds, 146 assists, 208 steals, 86 blocks and an OCU-record 274 3-pointers in her career. Gober provides OCU with 16.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.11 steals a game. Cara Pugh, a 6-2 junior from Oklahoma City, contributed 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. Pugh averages 6.1 points, 4.5 assists and 1.32 steals per game.
OCU leads NAIA Division I in scoring margin (34.3 points a game) and turnover margin (plus-13.4). The Stars rank in the top five nationally in eight team statistical categories, including third in scoring offense (83.1 points a game) and defense (48.7 points per game). Individually, Jessica Lankston's 92.3 percent free-throw percentage ranks second in the NAIA. To see how the Stars rank among national statistics, click here.
The Stars took the third spot in the most previous NAIA Division I rankings. Defending national champion OCU has been listed in all 160 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 leads the all-time series vs. Lubbock Christian 38-8. The Stars posted a 79-68 victory over top-ranked Lubbock Christian on Jan. 10 in Lubbock, Texas. Desiree Jeffries powered OCU with 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. The Stars nailed 26 of 30 free-throw attempts.

ABOUT THE LADY CHAPS: Top-ranked Lubbock Christian pasted Mid-America Christian 71-57 on Thursday at the Gaulke Activity Center in Oklahoma City. Lubbock Christian (21-1, 8-1 SAC) used a 12-2 run to build a 37-27 halftime lead en route to the win.
Emily Atkins, a 5-9 junior, sparked Lubbock Christian with 22 points and four assists. Atkins averages 14.1 points and 3.9 rebounds a game. Courtney Wilson, a 6-foot senior, had 14 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Wilson chips in 10.4 points and 3.8 rebounds a game.
Lubbock Christian leads the NAIA in points (1,883), assists per game (19.0), defensive rebounds a game (30.8), field-goal percentage (51.5), 3-point shooting percentage (40.6) and free-throw percentage (80.0). Lubbock Christian had been installed as the favorite to take the SAC title 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-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference 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).
Steve Gomez has guided the Lubbock Christian program to unprecedented heights with nine consecutive trips to the NAIA Tournament, a national runner-up finish in 2006 and a 224-93 record for the most wins of any Lubbock Christian women's basketball coach.

QUOTABLE: “We're not going to do anything different. We're going to do the best we can. Hopefully we can get the W here at home.” – Trammell on Saturday's game

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 will call the game. To access the live video, audio or stats for the game, 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 per game. A women's basketball season pass that allows you to see all the Stars' 2012-13 home games costs $29.95, while an 2012-13 all-sports pass costs $79.95.

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