Women's Basketball 2/6/2013 3:14:00 PM

OCU at USAO women's basketball preview

Stars look to sweep season series from USAO

Autumn Huffman contributes 7.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.76 steals a game for the Stars.

6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7
USAO Fieldhouse in Chickasha, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University strives to reach 20 wins for the 15th consecutive season while paying a visit to USAO.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU pulverized Mid-America Christian 87-53 on Tuesday at the Gaulke Activity Center. The Stars (19-2, 11-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) led wire-to-wire while posting overwhelming advantages in points in the paint (48-16), points off turnovers (32-7) and bench points (30-7).
Lauren Gober, a 6-foot-2 senior from Newcastle, Okla., piled up 18 points, three rebounds, four steals and four 3-pointers. On the season, Gober posts 16.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.19 steals a game while nailing 45 percent of her 3-point shots. A two-time all-American, Gober has accumulated 1,545 points, 638 rebounds, 152 assists, 214 steals, 87 blocks and an OCU-record 280 3-pointers as a Star.
Katie Hall, a 6-foot senior from Hazelton, Idaho, picked up 14 points, five rebounds and two steals, all in the second half. Hall leads OCU with eight double-doubles on the season. Hall records 13.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.57 steals a game. Hall has piled up 1,218 career points – 944 while playing three seasons for Western State (Colo.). Desiree Jeffries, a 6-foot senior from Oklahoma City, and Cara Pugh, a 6-2 junior from Oklahoma City, each had 12 points. Pugh grabbed 10 rebounds for her first double-double this season and second of her college career.
OCU leads NAIA Division I in scoring margin (33.3 points a game) and turnover margin (plus-13.9). The Stars rank in the top five nationally in eight team statistical categories. Jessica Lankston leads the nation with a 92.9 percent free-throw percentage. To see how the Stars rank among national statistics, click here.
The Stars were named co-No. 1 along with Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) in the last NAIA Division I rankings. Defending national champion OCU sat in the top spot for the 46th time and 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 has a 45-3 advantage in the series against USAO. The Stars won 98-44 on Jan. 5 at Abe Lemons Arena. Gober rang up 24 points and a career-high seven 3-pointers.

ABOUT THE LADY DROVERS: John Brown (Ark.) defeated USAO 79-69 on Jan. 31 in Siloam Springs, Ark. USAO (10-12, 1-9 SAC) lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
Rocio Medrano, a 6-foot senior, topped USAO with 18 points. Medrano spearheads the Lady Drovers with 12.8 points and 5.6 a game. Krista Ford, a 5-9 senior, had 16 points. Ford averages 11.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per contest.
League coaches projected USAO to finish ninth 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-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).
Jennifer Hayden's head-coaching record is 32-52 including two seasons starting the University of the Southwest (N.M.) program. Hayden previously served as assistant coach at Sul Ross State, where she recruited and coached the 2011-12 American Southwest Conference West Division newcomer of the year, Ford, who followed Hayden to USAO.

QUOTABLE: “She's been doing well and building on her success. What a time for her to do that.” – Trammell on Pugh

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 featuring Hall.
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.
USAO will provide live stats of the game. To follow the game, click here.

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