Women's Basketball 3/5/2014 5:12:00 PM

OCU vs. Southwestern Christian women's basketball preview

Stars begin quest for 10th SAC Tournament crown

OCU celebrates winning the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season championship.

Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals
2:15 p.m. Thursday, March 6
Noble Complex in Shawnee, Okla.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University will look to advance in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament as the Stars square off with Southwestern Christian.
Tickets are $10 general admission and $5 for students.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars captured the SAC regular-season championship with a 72-68 victory over sixth-ranked Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU (21-3, 18-2 Sooner Athletic Conference) overcame a 68-67 deficit with 1:52 left using a jumper at the 1:34 mark plus three free throws from Kayla MacKenzie.
Autumn Lau, a 5-foot-10 senior from Mount Wolf, Pa., lifted OCU with 25 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots Saturday. Lau became SAC player of the week and a second-team all-league performer. Lau provides OCU with 14.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.17 blocked shots per game.
MacKenzie, a 5-6 senior from Peoria, Ariz., posted 15 points, eight rebounds and two assists. She made the all-SAC second team. MacKenzie pitches in 12.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.25 steals a contest. Yvonte Neal, a 5-7 junior from Spring Valley, Calif., notched her first double-double of 2013-14 with 11 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals. Neal shared the conference player of the year award with Angeleigh Davis of Wayland Baptist (Texas). Neal piles up 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.67 steals per outing.
OCU ranks third in rebounding margin (plus-12.2) in the NAIA. To see where OCU rates statistically among NAIA Division I, click here.
The Stars improved to fifth in the most recent national rankings. OCU has been ranked in the top 10 in every poll since March 11, 2009 and made the top 25 in all 176 polls since 1999-2000. OCU owns national championships from 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2012.
OCU has won or shared the SAC regular-season crown 15 times. The Stars are nine-time SAC Tournament champions with titles won in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012. OCU has gone 134-12 in league play over the past seven seasons.
The Stars swept the home-and-home series against Southwestern Christian in the first two meetings between the two schools. OCU trampled Southwestern Christian 82-49 on Feb. 11 at Abe Lemons Arena. Ouleymatou Coulibaly had one of her six double-doubles this season with 20 points and a season-best 18 rebounds.

ABOUT THE LADY EAGLES: Southwestern Christian prevailed 98-90 over USAO in double overtime in the SAC Tournament first round Wednesday in Shawnee, Okla. Adrianna White gave Southwestern Christian (11-18) the go-ahead bucket with 2:08 to go in the second overtime.
White, a 5-8 freshman from Midwest City, Okla., boosted the Lady Eagles with 34 points, eight rebounds and three assists. She has been named the SAC freshman of the year. White averages 15.7 points and 6.2 rebounds a game. Vanessa Bledsoe, a 5-10 senior, and Maranda Janz, a 5-7 freshman, each had 18 points. Bledsoe supplies her team with 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest.
Southwestern Christian ranks 42nd in the NAIA in free-throw percentage at 68.3 percent.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Latricia Trammell owns a 114-83 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).
Becky Mitchell is in her 13th season as Southwestern Christian coach. Mitchell has led her team to a 54-71 record in the four seasons since Southwestern Christian became an NAIA member in 2010-11.

ABOUT THE SAC TOURNAMENT: The nation's premier NAIA basketball conference stages its postseason tournament at the Noble Complex in Shawnee, Okla., on March 5-8. NAIA Division I Tournament berths will be at stake in the Sooner Athletic Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments.

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: Fans can follow each SAC Tournament game via live stats and video. The video is available for $10 per game and $50 for a tournament pass. Watch the games here or keep up with all the tournament games via live stats by clicking here.

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