Women's Basketball 2/22/2013 1:56:00 PM

OCU at Rogers State women's basketball preview

Stars could finish unbeaten in SAC play for third time in school history

Ravven Brown contributed six points, three rebounds and six assists for the Stars on Thursday.

3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23
Claremore Expo Center in Claremore, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University looks to go unbeaten in the Sooner Athletic Conference for the third time in program history and the 10th time in league history.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars cruised past Oklahoma Baptist 70-38 on Thursday in Shawnee, Okla. OCU (23-2, 15-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) extended the NAIA's longest active winning streak to 22 and its winning string against NAIA competition to 44.
Kayla MacKenzie, a 5-foot-6 sophomore from Peoria, Ariz., ignited OCU with 19 points, five rebounds and three steals while draining three 3-pointers off the bench. MacKenzie provides the Stars with 10.5 points and 2.12 steals a game.
Jessica Lankston, a 5-2 senior from Kansas, Okla., picked up 11 points and four rebounds on 4-of-5 shooting from the field. Lankston's 11 points helped OCU get off to a 19-10 start at the 12:23 mark of the first half. Lankston averages 8.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and a team-high 2.30 steals a game. Katie Hall, a 6-foot senior from Hazelton, Idaho, added 10 points, 12 rebounds and three steals to net her team-high 12th double-double on the season. Hall posts 12.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.60 steals a game. Hall has amassed 1,266 points and 1,080 rebounds in as a collegian – 944 points and 837 rebounds at Western State (Colo.).
OCU leads NAIA Division I in scoring margin (35.0 points a game) and turnover margin. The Stars rank in the top five nationally in 10 team statistical categories. To see how the Stars rank among national statistics, click here.
The Stars took second in the latest rankings, falling short of No. 1 by one point. Defending national champion OCU has been listed in all 162 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 14 times – in 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and now, 2013.
OCU improved to 11-1 all-time vs. Rogers State with an 87-39 victory Jan. 17 at Abe Lemons Arena. MacKenzie spearheaded OCU with 18 points and six steals as Rogers State suffered its first conference loss of the season.

ABOUT THE HILLCATS: Rogers State knocked off St. Gregory's 75-68 on Wednesday in Shawnee, Okla. Rogers State (22-7, 12-3 SAC) took the lead for good with a 7-0 run capped by Logan Froese's basket with 12:23 to go.
Froese, a 6-1 senior, topped Rogers State with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Froese produces 10.7 points and 5.6 rebounds a game. Leah Smith, a 5-9 senior, had 16 points, five rebounds and two steals. Smith averages 11.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest.
Rogers State landed at the No. 13 spot in the national rankings. League coaches projected Rogers State would finish second in the SAC 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 Denton Bill Ryan High School (Texas).
Roxanne Long, in her debut season at Rogers State, has gone 56-72 as a head coach. Long spent the past four seasons as head coach at Texas Lutheran where she was named 2009 American Southwest Conference coach of the year. During her playing days, she was a three-year starter at Oklahoma where she ranks in the top 10 in minutes played and made 3-pointers.

QUOTABLE: “Rogers State is a good team. We're going to have to do the little things and clean up the turnovers and concentrate on what we do.” – Trammell

ABOUT THE SAC TOURNAMENT: The nation's premier NAIA basketball conference stages its postseason tournament at the Noble Complex in Shawnee, Okla., on Feb. 27-March 2. NAIA Division I Tournament berths will be at stake in the Sooner Athletic Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments. Pairings are expected to be released Sunday. All nine teams will qualify for the tournament with the eighth- and ninth-place teams meeting in a play-in game 6 p.m. Wednesday.

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.
Rogers State will provide live stats and video of the game. To watch or follow the game on live stats, click here.

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