Women's Basketball 2/25/2015 2:59:00 PM

OCU at Southwestern Assemblies of God women’s basketball preview

Stars look to capture SAC regular-season title for 16th time

Rateska Brown ranks second in NAIA Division I in 3-pointers made per game.

6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26
Sheaffer Center, Waxahachie, Texas

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University looks to wrap up the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season championship against Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas).

ABOUT THE STARS: Oklahoma City cruised past USAO 93-57 Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (20-2, 15-1 SAC) recorded their 17th consecutive 20-win season.
Yvonte Neal, a 5-foot-7 senior from Spring Valley, Calif., produced 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and five steals Saturday. She raked in her third SAC player of the week honor this season for the week of Feb. 16-23. Neal averaged 22.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 3.00 steals in wins against St. Gregory's and USAO. On the season, she provides OCU with 14.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.35 steals a contest.
Marisha Wallace, a 6-2 senior from Midwest City, notched a double-double with 18 points, 12 rebounds and three assists in her second OCU start. Wallace turns in 14.8 points and 7.9 rebounds a game. Rateska Brown, a 5-6 senior from Alvin, S.C., contributed 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Brown ranks second in NAIA Division I in 3-pointers made per game with 4.5. She leads the Stars in scoring with 19.5 points while adding 4.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists a game.
The Stars pace NAIA Division I at 18.9 assists per contest. To see how OCU compares with the NAIA Division I statistical leaders, click here.
Oklahoma City took the No. 2 spot in the NAIA Division I rankings for the eighth consecutive poll. OCU continued streaks of being ranked in the top 10 in every poll since March 11, 2009 and making the top 25 for the 187th consecutive time since 1999-2000. Oklahoma City owns national championships from 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2014. SAC coaches predicted the Stars would win the league title. OCU has won or shared the SAC regular-season crown 15 times, including the last five in a row.
OCU owns a 3-0 overall record against Southwestern Assemblies of God. The Stars pounded the Lady Lions 94-43 in Abe Lemons Arena on Jan. 22.

ABOUT THE LADY LIONS: Southwestern Assemblies of God fell to John Brown (Ark.) 61-55 in Slioam Springs, Ark. on Saturday. The Lady Lions (11-16, 3-13 SAC) went on a 7-2 lead to capture the lead two minutes into the second half but were unable to hold the lead.
Taylor Hill, a 5-6 junior, led the way with 15 points and added three assists and one rebound. Hill leads the team in points with 10.4 and assists with 3.2 while grabbing 2.9 rebounds a game.
Kassy Cox, a 6-1 senior, picked up a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Cox leads the team in rebounds snatching 9.6 and adds 9.0 points a game.
SAGU was chosen to finish seventh in the SAC preseason coaches' poll.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Latricia Trammell was the 2014 NAIA Division I Phyllis Holmes coach of the year. Trammell has a 74-9 record in her third season as OCU head coach. She guided the Stars to a 16-0 record in conference play in 2012-13. She was OCU assistant to Rob Edmisson in 2005-07, then became Western State (Colo.) head coach from 2007-12. Trammell's college head-coaching record is 139-85 in her eighth year. Trammell has coached six all-Americans and 23 all-conference selections, including two SAC players of the year, an SAC newcomer of the year, Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference player of the year and RMAC West Division freshman of the year. As an assistant at OCU, 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.
Arlon Beadles is in his 10th season as the Lady Lions' coach. Deadles led SAGU to their first NAIA Tournament appearance in school history in 2010.

QUOTABLE: "We played consistent again. We carried over the momentum from Thursday's game. There was a spell where I thought we could have defended a little better and a lot of fouls were called. I was really proud of all 10 players that played." – Trammell on Saturday's win against USAO

FOLLOW THE STARS: Fans can keep up on the latest on OCU athletics through several ways.
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.
Fans can sign up to receive OCU Athletics SMS text message alerts, including the latest score updates and headlines from the Stars, by going here.
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.

ON THE AIR: SAGU will provide live stats and live video.

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Players Mentioned

#22 Yvonte Neal: G; 5' 7"; Senior

#45 Marisha Wallace: C; 6' 2"; Senior

#3 Rateska Brown: G; 5' 6"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#22 Yvonte Neal
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

#45 Marisha Wallace
: 6' 2"; Senior
: C

#3 Rateska Brown
: 5' 6"; Senior
: G

Players Mentioned

#22 Yvonte Neal

#45 Marisha Wallace

#3 Rateska Brown

Players Mentioned

#22 Yvonte Neal

#45 Marisha Wallace

#3 Rateska Brown