Women's Basketball 2/21/2014 1:45:00 PM

OCU at Texas Wesleyan women's basketball preview

Stars have won nine of their last 10 games

Autumn Huffman ranks eighth in the NAIA with an 84.1 percent free-throw percentage.

3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22
Sid Richardson Center in Fort Worth, Texas

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University will look for the season series sweep of Texas Wesleyan in the Stars' first visit to the Sid Richardson Center ever.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU blasted USAO 102-61 on Thursday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (18-3, 15-2 SAC) pocketed a season-best 24 steals in posting back-to-back 100-point games for the second time this season.
Cara Pugh, a 6-foot-2 senior from Oklahoma City, piled up 23 points, three steals and three 3-pointers Thursday. Her 41.4 percent 3-point shooting percentage ranks 17th in NAIA Division I. Pugh supplies OCU with 11.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.29 steals a game.
Ouleymatou Coulibaly, a 6-2 junior from Bamako, Mali, West Africa, added 18 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. Coulibaly had her sixth double-double of the season. She pitches in 13.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.48 steals per contest. Yvonte Neal, a 5-7 junior from Spring Valley, Calif., had 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Neal totals 16.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.71 steals per game.
OCU ranks third in rebounding margin (plus-12.5) in the NAIA. To see where OCU rates statistically among NAIA Division I, click here.
The Stars remained sixth in the latest national rankings. OCU has been ranked in the top 10 in every poll since March 11, 2009 and made the top 25 in all 174 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 131-12 in league play over the past six-plus seasons.
OCU has a 5-0 all-time record against Texas Wesleyan. The Stars pummeled Texas Wesleyan 96-61 on Jan. 23 at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU drained a single-game program record 20 3-pointers as Pugh equaled the individual record of eight treys set by Patricia Ordonez in the 1988 national championship game. Kayla MacKenzie had a career-high 29 points and seven 3s.

ABOUT THE LADY RAMS: Texas Wesleyan topped Southwestern Christian 64-56 on Thursday in Bethany, Okla. Texas Wesleyan (13-13, 8-9 SAC) led from start to finish, building an 18-point lead early in the second half.
Amy Moody, a 5-9 junior, accumulated 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Moody averages 10.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 2.38 steals a game. Onyasonam Nolisa, a 6-foot sophomore, had 10 points and six rebounds each. Nolisa compiles 10.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.50 steals a game.
Texas Wesleyan ranks second nationally with 139 blocked shots. Texas Wesleyan was picked to finish fourth in the SAC according to the preseason conference coaches' poll.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Latricia Trammell owns a 111-83 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 59-30 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.

ON THE AIR: Texas Wesleyan will provide fans the opportunity to follow the game via live stats.

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