Women's Basketball 2/28/2013 11:47:00 AM

OCU vs. Mid-America Christian women's basketball preview

Stars open defense of SAC Tournament title

Tiffany Bellamy hits 3-pointers at a 33.3 percent clip.

Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals
2:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28
Noble Complex in Shawnee, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University will aim to eliminate Mid-America Christian from the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament.
OCU has won SAC Tournament crowns in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU rallied past Rogers State 78-66 on Saturday in Claremore, Okla. The Stars (24-2, 16-0 SAC) overcame a 10-point deficit to become the third OCU team in program history and 10th team in SAC history to finish the league schedule undefeated.
Kayla MacKenzie, a 5-foot-6 junior from Peoria, Ariz., sparked OCU with a season-high 25 points to go with six rebounds. She shot 8-for-16 from the field and 6-for-9 from 3-point range. MacKenzie collected 22.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.00 steals a game last week in becoming SAC player of the week. MacKenzie produces 11.0 points and 2.08 steals a game.
Desiree Jeffries, a 6-foot senior from Oklahoma City, recorded her first double-double of the season with 17 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Jeffries averages 12.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.85 steals a game. Lauren Gober, a 6-2 senior from Newcastle, Okla., supplied the Stars with 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Gober registers 16.4 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.35 steals a game. Gober has accumulated 1,627 points, 675 rebounds, 155 assists, 229 steals and 89 blocks. She holds OCU's career record with 292 3-pointers. Gober became a four-time all-SAC selection and shared the SAC player of the year award with Nicole Hampton of Lubbock Christian (Texas).
OCU leads NAIA Division I in scoring margin (34.2 points a game) and turnover margin (plus-13.62 per game). The Stars rank in the top five nationally in nine team statistical categories. To see how the Stars rank among national statistics, click here.
The Stars remained second in the newest national rankings, falling short of No. 1 by one point and garnering five of 11 first-place votes. Defending national champion OCU has been listed in all 163 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 league. 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 went to 12-0 all-time against Mid-America Christian with an 87-53 victory on Feb. 5 at the Gaulke Activity Center. Gober had 18 points and four steals.

ABOUT THE LADY EVANGELS: Mid-America Christian held off USAO 69-64 on Wednesday in the SAC Tournament play-in game at the Noble Complex. Mid-America (14-14) pulled away after USAO tied the game midway through the second half.
Parris Price, a 5-5 senior, turned in 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Price, a third-team all-league performer, picks up 13.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.46 steals a game. Kourtni Williams, a 5-11 senior, had 21 points and eight rebounds. Williams, a second-team all-SAC pick, averages 17.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest.
Mid-America Christian ranks 14th nationally with a 71.2 percent free-throw percentage.

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).
Roman Owen has a 41-49 head-coaching record in his third season as Mid-America coach. Owen, a former assistant for the OCU men's program, scored a program-high 2,802 points and garnered the Pete Maravich Award playing for Southwestern Christian. He also leads the men's golf team at Mid-America Christian.

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. For information, visit the tournament page.

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: Fans can follow all the SAC Tournament games via live stats and video. To watch the game, click here. To follow the game on live stats, click here.

Print Friendly Version