Women's Basketball 1/22/2014 5:03:00 PM

OCU vs. Texas Wesleyan women's basketball preview

Stars continue SAC play against league newcomer Texas Wesleyan

Autumn Huffman added seven points and eight rebounds Saturday vs. Mid-America Christian.

6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University makes its second consecutive home appearance against new Sooner Athletic Conference foe Texas Wesleyan.
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. For the OCU athletics visitors guide, click here.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars knocked off Mid-America Christian 79-69 on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU (10-2, 7-1 SAC) limited Mid-America to 38.6 percent shooting from the floor – 34.5 percent in the second half.
Yvonte Neal, a 5-foot-7 junior from Spring Valley, Calif., tallied 23 points and six rebounds for the Stars. Neal ranks ninth nationally with an 86.4 percent free-throw percentage. Neal tops OCU in scoring at 16.7 points a contest while recording 4.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.08 steals per game.
Ouleymatou Coulibaly, a 6-2 junior from Bamako, Mali, West Africa, contributed 14 points, 10 rebounds and three steals off the bench. Her 53.6 percent field-goal percentage ranks sixth in the NAIA. Coulibaly provides 12.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.50 steals a game. Kayla MacKenzie, a 5-6 senior from Peoria, Ariz., also had 14 points while nabbing four rebounds and three steals. MacKenzie averages 12.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.75 steals a game.
OCU ranks third in the NAIA in offensive rebounding (18.3 per game) and rebounding margin (plus-14.5). To see where OCU rates statistically among the NAIA, click here.
The Stars moved to seventh in the newest national rankings. OCU has been rated in the top 10 in every poll since March 11, 2009 and made the top 25 in all 170 polls since 1999-2000. OCU owns national championships from 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2012.
SAC coaches predicted the Stars would win the league title. OCU has won or shared the SAC regular-season crown 14 times, including last season when the Stars became the 10th SAC team to go unbeaten in league play. OCU has gone 123-11 in league play over the past six-plus seasons.
OCU has a 4-0 all-time record against Texas Wesleyan. The last time the two teams met, the Stars stomped Texas Wesleyan 92-43 on Nov. 29, 2008 at Abe Lemons Arena. Albany Anderson's cousin Chelsea Ledbetter served as OCU's ringleader with 13 points, eight assists and three steals.

ABOUT THE LADY RAMS: Wayland Baptist (Texas) posted the 87-80 win over Texas Wesleyan on Jan. 16 in Fort Worth, Texas. Texas Wesleyan (8-7, 4-3 SAC) gave up an eight-point lead that the Lady Rams built with 16:42 left in the game.
Takoia Larry, a 5-9 senior, led Texas Wesleyan with 23 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and three steals. Larry tops Texas Wesleyan in nearly every statistical category – scoring (15.5 points a game), rebounding (8.3), assists (2.3), steals (2.60) and blocks (1.53). Amy Moody, a 6-4 senior, had 19 points, 11 assists and three steals. Moody picks up 9.4 points, 5.7 assists and 2.50 steals per game.
Texas Wesleyan ranks second in the NAIA with 5.80 blocked shots a game. Texas Wesleyan had been projected to finish fourth in the SAC by league coaches.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Latricia Trammell owns a 103-82 record in six seasons as a college head coach. She reeled off a 28-4 record and became conference coach of the year in her first season as OCU head coach in 2012-13. 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).
Bill Franey has a 54-24 record in his third season as Texas Wesleyan coach. Franey spent two seasons as an assistant on the Texas Wesleyan staff prior to becoming head coach. Franey's 35-year coaching career includes stops at the junior high, high school, junior college and NCAA Division I and Division II levels.

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. Andrew Himes will call the game. 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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