OCU vs. Texas Wesleyan women's basketball preview

Stars looks to stay unbeaten within conference

Samantha Stallbaumer has averaged 2.0 points and 1.2 rebounds a game this season.

Women's Basketball | 12/7/2015 2:24:00 PM

6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University plays its lone home game of December against 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. If the Stars score 70 points, fans will get a prize from Raising Cane's. For the OCU athletics visitors guide, click here.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars started conference play with a 57-42 victory over Southwestern Christian on Saturday in Bethany, Okla. OCU (4-3, 1-0 SAC) scored 34 points in the paint.
Daniela Wallen, a 5-foot-11 junior from Caracas, Venezuela, lifted Oklahoma City with 23 points, 19 rebounds and four steals. Wallen leads the team with 20.5 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.50 steals per game as well as a 53.1 percent field-goal percentage.
Catherine Kruschke, a 6-foot senior from Dublin, Calif., provided the Stars 16 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. Kruschke posts 17.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. Amanda Ingram, a 5-9 junior from Oklahoma City, had seven points, four rebounds and three assists. Ingram averages 4.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.71 steals a contest.
OCU ranks fifth nationally with 32.0 defensive rebounds a game led by Wallen's 8.7 defensive rebounds average, which leads the NAIA. To see how OCU matches up with the NAIA Division I statistical leaders this season, click here.
OCU took the seventh spot in the preseason NAIA Division I rankings. OCU continued streaks of being ranked in the top 10 in every poll since March 11, 2009 and making the top 25 for the 192nd consecutive time since 1999-2000. Oklahoma City owns national championships from 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2014 and 2015. The Stars were expected to finish second in the preseason SAC poll. OCU has won or shared the regular-season league title 16 times, including the last six.
The Stars lead the series against Texas Wesleyan 8-0. OCU overcame a seven-point deficit to win 84-77 at Abe Lemons Arena on Jan. 31. Kruschke contributed 11 points and five rebounds and hit the go-ahead free throws with 5:13 left.

ABOUT THE LADY RAMS: Mid-America Christian nipped Texas Wesleyan 81-80 on Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. Mid-America's Kelli Tolar hit the game-winning free throw with two seconds left as Texas Wesleyan (3-5, 0-1 SAC) held a 16-point lead late in the first half.
Onyesonam Nolisa, a 6-foot senior, ramrodded Texas Wesleyan with 21 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, four blocked shots and two steals. Nolisa, who was SAC player of the week, piles up 15.1 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.43 blocks and 2.29 steals per game. Katelynn Threats, a 5-11 junior, had 21 points and seven rebounds. Threats averages 18.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.50 steals a game.
Texas Wesleyan racks up 3.38 blocked shots a game, which ranks 22nd in the NAIA. Texas Wesleyan had been picked to finish third in the league in the preseason.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Bo Overton is in his debut season with OCU. Overton has a wide array of coaching experience, establishing a reputation as a top talent evaluator and recruiter. He has head-coaching experience on the professional level in China, Russia and the WNBA, as well as college head-coaching experience with Missouri-Kansas City. Overton has been an assistant on the international level for the Bahamas and China, including the 2012 Olympics with the Chinese team. Overton is well known among Oklahomans for his stint as an assistant to Sherri Coale at Oklahoma from 1998-2004 as well as playing college basketball at Oklahoma.
Bill Franey enters his fifth season as head coach of Texas Wesleyan. Franey owns an 80-54 record as the Lady Rams head coach. Among many notables in his career, Franey guided Belleville St. Henry Prep (Ill.) to a state championship and served as an assistant coach to Nolan Richardson at the University of Tulsa in the early 1980s.

FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest from OCU athletics through several ways.
Check out OCU athletics on several social media platforms by looking up the handle @ocustars. The Stars are on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and new for 2015-16, Instagram.
Fans can sign up to receive the latest OCU athletic headlines via e-mail by going here.
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 featuring Kruschke or see our video channel in the upper right-hand corner of our home page.

ON THE AIR: OCU athletics has partnered with Stretch Internet to provide live and on-demand audio, stats and video of the Stars' games. Follow the game via live audio, stats and video by visiting OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here. Cost to watch the game is $7.95 per game, $29.95 to see all 2015-16 home games and $79.95 to watch all of OCU's action in every sport in 2015-16.
Andrew Himes calls the action. Himes, in his fifth season as the voice of the Stars, has been broadcasting OCU games for eight years starting on color commentary as an OCU student.

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Players Mentioned

#24 Catherine Kruschke: F; 6' 0"; Senior

#22 Daniela Wallen: F; 5' 11"; Junior

#11 Amanda Ingram: F; 5' 9"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#24 Catherine Kruschke
: 6' 0"; Senior
: F

#22 Daniela Wallen
: 5' 11"; Junior
: F

#11 Amanda Ingram
: 5' 9"; Junior
: F

Players Mentioned

#24 Catherine Kruschke

#22 Daniela Wallen

#11 Amanda Ingram

Players Mentioned

#24 Catherine Kruschke

#22 Daniela Wallen

#11 Amanda Ingram