Women's Basketball 3/18/2014 11:27:00 AM

OCU vs. Langston women's basketball preview

Stars make 17th consecutive national-tournament appearance

Autumn Lau ranks 39th in the NAIA with 1.08 blocked shots a game.

NAIA Division I Tournament
3 p.m. CDT Wednesday, March 19
Frankfort Convention Center in Frankfort, Ky.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University begins pursuit of its seventh national championship with a rematch against Langston in the first round of the NAIA Division I Tournament.
Session tickets are $10 each for general admission, $5 for senior citizens and free to youth 12 and under. Tickets can be purchased by going here.

ABOUT THE STARS: OCU was eliminated from the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament in a 66-62 semifinals loss March 7 in Shawnee, Okla. The Stars (22-4) nailed 10 3-pointers to reach double figures in treys for the fifth time this season.
Yvonte Neal, a 5-foot-7 junior from Spring Valley, Calif., poured in a season-high 29 points and six 3s on March 7. She also had five rebounds and three assists. Neal shared the league player of the year award and collected all-tournament acclaim in the SAC Tournament. Neal picks up 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.58 steals a game.
Kayla MacKenzie, a 5-6 senior from Peoria, Ariz., supplied the Stars with 16 points, three rebounds, two assists and four 3-pointers. MacKenzie, a second-team all-SAC selection, finds herself 17 points shy of 1,000 career points. MacKenzie racks up 12.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.15 steals a game. Autumn Huffman, a 5-9 senior from Midwest City, Okla., chipped in eight points and five rebounds. Huffman contributes 9.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.85 steals a game.
OCU ranks third in rebounding margin (plus-11.89) and seventh in scoring margin (19.1 per game) in the NAIA. To see where OCU rates statistically among NAIA Division I, click here.
The Stars remained at No. 5 in the final national rankings before the national tournament. OCU has been ranked in the top 10 in every poll since March 11, 2009 and made the top 25 in all 177 polls since 1999-2000.
OCU owns national championships won in 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2012. OCU has advanced to the national tournament for the 20th time and 17th year in a row. OCU's record in national-tournament play stands at 56-13.
The Stars moved to 27-1 vs. Langston over the years by winning 102-58 on Nov. 28 at Abe Lemons Arena in the Capital City Classic. Ouleymatou Coulibaly provided OCU with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

ABOUT THE LADY LIONS: Langston fell 67-64 to Huston-Tillotson (Texas) on March 8 in the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament championship in Marshall, Texas. Langston (20-12) rallied from 20 points down as Lynette Holmes banked in a shot with nine seconds left to cut its deficit to one point. Huston-Tillotson's Ariel Callis hit free throws with seven seconds to go, and Chaquitta Thrower rejected Alana Lee's 3-point attempt at the end of the game.
Holmes, a 6-1 junior, recorded 28 points and five rebounds. Holmes, the RRAC player of the year, tops the NAIA with 26.8 points per game while also grabbing 6.9 rebounds and 1.74 steals a game. Alex Adekunle, a 6-2 senior, had 17 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots. Adekunle, a first-team all-league choice, averages 17.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.48 steals a game.
Langston, which picked up the 14th at-large berth into the national tournament, received votes in the most previous NAIA rankings. The Lady Lions rank fifth in the NAIA in steals at 13.2 per game.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Latricia Trammell owns a 115-84 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).
David Johnson has a 31-29 record in his second season as Langston coach. His assistant, Natasha Doh, became SAC freshman of the year while playing for OCU in 2004-05.

STAYING IN OKC? Come to the Leichter Room above Abe Lemons Arena on the OCU campus to watch the game.

FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest on OCU athletics through several ways.
Sign up to get text alerts from OCU Athletics by visiting the SMS Text Alerts Signup.
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: Fans can follow each NAIA Tournament game via live stats and video. The video is available for $9.95 per day and $24.95 for an all-tournament pass. Watch the games here or keep up with the game via live stats by clicking here.

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