Women's Basketball 3/25/2014 1:53:00 PM

OCU vs. Freed-Hardeman women's basketball preview

Stars look to tie Southern Nazarene for most NAIA women's hoops titles

Autumn Huffman has posted 13.8 points and 7.5 rebounds a game during OCU's national-tournament run.

NAIA Division I Tournament championship
5:30 p.m. CDT Tuesday, March 25
Frankfort Convention Center in Frankfort, Ky.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University takes aim at its seventh national championship against Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.).
OCU has captured national championships in 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2012. OCU has reached the national title game for the 10th time and the second time in three years.
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 shaded 16th-ranked John Brown (Ark.) 67-65 on Tuesday in the Fab Four. The fifth-ranked Stars (26-4) held John Brown without a point in the final 2:22, to no field goals in the final 3:34 and to 1-for-9 3-point shooting in the second half. OCU improved to 7-3 against ranked opponents this season.
Autumn Huffman, a 5-foot-9 senior from Midwest City, Okla., sparked OCU with 17 points while hitting 8 of her 12 shots from the field. Huffman provides the Stars with 9.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.80 steals a game. In the tournament, her average numbers have been 13.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.50 steals.
Kayla MacKenzie, a 5-6 senior from Peoria, Ariz., produced 13 points, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals Monday. MacKenzie has racked up 1,031 points, 280 rebounds, 235 assists and 179 steals in her OCU career. MacKenzie has averaged 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.13 steals this season and 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.00 steals in the tournament. MacKenzie and Cara Pugh were members of OCU's 2012 national title team. Ouleymatou Coulibaly, a 6-2 junior from Bamako, Mali, West Africa, and Yvonte Neal, a 5-7 junior from Spring Valley, Calif., each contributed 12 points. Neal, the co-Sooner Athletic Conference player of the year, notches 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.63 steals a game. Neal averages 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.00 steals per outing in the tournament.
OCU ranks third in rebounding margin (plus-11.77) and seventh in average defensive rebounds (33.1 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 has made its 20th national-tournament appearance and 17th in a row. OCU's record in national-tournament play stands at 60-13. OCU stands in second place all-time in tournament wins. The Stars have notched 25 wins in each of the past 16 seasons.
The Stars have gone 2-1 against Freed-Hardeman. OCU won a double-overtime thriller 95-85 on March 14, 2007 in the first round of the NAIA Tournament in Jackson, Tenn. Alexandra Kotta led the Stars with 25 points. OCU's other victory came 72-55 on March 22, 1999 in the NAIA Tournament semifinals. Patty Cantella's 11 points and nine assists lifted OCU.

ABOUT THE LADY LIONS: Freed-Hardeman held off Wiley (Texas) 88-86 in overtime Monday in the tournament semifinals. Kyniddia Purdy's 3-point play cut Freed-Hardeman's lead to 87-86 with two seconds left. Brittany Montgomery sank a free throw with one second left to send Freed-Hardeman (36-1) to its first national championship game.
Hayley Newby, a 6-foot junior, totaled 32 points and 13 rebounds. Her putback as time expired in regulation sent the game to overtime. Newby spearheads her team with 19.5 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.19 steals a game. Grace Alonso de Armino, a 6-1 junior, and Taleeah Cross, a 5-6 freshman, each chipped in 15 points. Cross averages 13.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.86 steals a contest.
Freed-Hardeman sat No. 2 in the latest NAIA rankings and reached the tournament for the 18th consecutive time by winning the American Midwest Conference Tournament. The Lady Lions rank second among the NAIA in scoring offense (2,988 points), scoring margin (23.6 per game) and rebounding margin (plus-12.54).

ABOUT OCU ATHLETICS: Oklahoma City University owns 54 national championships in all sports. In 2013-14, the Stars have already won NAIA crowns in cheerleading, pom/dance and men's cross country.

ABOUT THE SOONER ATHLETIC CONFERENCE: Sooner Athletic Conference schools have 13 national championships and eight runner-up finishes. Southern Nazarene has seven national titles, while Oklahoma City owns six national crowns. Three times SAC schools met for the national championship – Oklahoma City and Southern Nazarene met each other from 2002-04 with Oklahoma City winning 2002 and Southern Nazarene in 2003 and 2004.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Latricia Trammell owns a 119-84 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).
Dale Neal has led Freed-Hardeman to a 542-160 record in his 20th year at the helm. Freed-Hardeman has made the Fab Four five times under Neal's guidance.

QUOTABLE: "We have to play and do what we do. Hopefully we will show them we want it just as bad as they do. They're really sharing the basketball and getting stops in this tournament. We've had several players step up in this process." – Trammell on the national title matchup

STAYING IN OKC? Come to the student lounge of the Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center 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 watch tonight's game via ESPN3 where Jason Knapp and Lisa Byington will have the call. For information on how to access the broadcast, click here. Keep up with the game via live stats by clicking here.

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