OCU vs. Lewis-Clark State women's basketball preview

Stars face Lewis-Clark State for fifth time in NAIA Tournament

Oklahoma City captured its seventh national championship in women's basketball last year.

Women's Basketball | 3/17/2015 4:11:00 PM

NAIA Division I Tournament
1:45 p.m. CDT Wednesday, March 18
Independence Events Center in Independence, Mo.

THE MATCHUP: Defending national champion Oklahoma City University begins play in the NAIA Division I Tournament against Lewis-Clark State (Idaho).
Session tickets are $10 each for general admission, $7 for students, $5 for children aged 5-11 and free to children 5 and under. Tickets can be purchased by going here.

ABOUT THE STARS: Oklahoma City captured its 10th Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament championship 76-70 over Oklahoma Baptist on March 7 at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU (25-2) completed a sweep of the SAC regular-season and tournament crowns for the eighth time.
Janay Borum, a 5-foot-2 senior from Upper Marlboro, Md., ignited the Stars with 20 points, seven assists and seven steals against Oklahoma Baptist. Borum established new season highs in scoring, free throws made (10), free-throw tries (12) and steals. She took the tournament hustle award. Borum provides OCU with 7.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.73 steals and an NAIA-high 7.3 assists a contest.
Rateska Brown, a 5-6 senior from Alvin, S.C., posted 19 points, 17 in the second half, on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. She recorded 16.3 points a game during the SAC Tournament to grab tournament most valuable player honors. Brown, the SAC player of the year, collects 19.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.78 steals per game to go with a 38.2 percent 3-point shooting percentage. Brown's 3.22 3-pointers per game rank fifth nationally. Marisha Wallace, a 6-2 senior from Midwest City, Okla., notched her sixth double-double this season with 11 points and 15 rebounds. Wallace averages 14.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor.
The Stars lead NAIA Division I with 18.5 assists a game. To see how OCU compares with the NAIA Division I statistical leaders, click here.
Oklahoma City continued in the second slot in the NAIA Division I rankings for the 11th consecutive time. OCU continued streaks of being ranked in the top 10 in every poll since March 11, 2009 and making the top 25 for the 190th consecutive time since 1999-2000. Oklahoma City owns national championships from 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012 and 2014 and has reached the finals in 2003, 2004 and 2005. OCU has made its 21st trip to the NAIA Tournament and 18th in a row.
OCU meets Lewis-Clark State for the fifth time in national-tournament play. The Stars cruised 87-59 over Lewis-Clark State on March 19, 2010 in the round of 16 in Jackson, Tenn. Starr Fairbanks' 25 points helped OCU in improving to 4-0 against Lewis-Clark State all-time.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS: Lewis-Clark State bowed out of the Frontier Tournament by falling 86-80 in the quarterfinals to 25th-ranked Great Falls (Mont.) on March 3 in Great Falls, Mont. Lewis-Clark State (21-10) is making its 18th national-tournament appearance.
Natahnee Spencer, a 5-6 sophomore, buoyed LC State with 21 points and three 3-pointers. Spencer contributes 7.7 points and 2.3 rebounds a game while sinking 37.1 percent of her 3-point shots. Caelyn Orlandi, a 5-9 sophomore, had 18 points, five rebounds and three treys. She averages 13.1 points, 2.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists a game.
Lewis-Clark State ranks seventh in the NAIA with its 73.6 percent free-throw percentage. The Warriors received votes in the last poll.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Latricia Trammell was the 2014 NAIA Division I Phyllis Holmes coach of the year. Trammell has an 80-10 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 145-86 in her eighth year. Trammell has coached six all-Americans and 23 all-conference selections, including three SAC players of the year, two SAC newcomers 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.
Brian Orr owns a 343-118 record in his 14th season with Lewis-Clark State. Orr has guided Lewis-Clark State to 12 national-tournament appearances and has become the program's winningest coach.

QUOTABLE: "Their athleticism is really the most frightening thing for us. They dominate the boards. It's not an easy matchup, we know that. We're just going to prepare the best we can, and then we're going to go into it ready to give our best out on the court and enjoy every moment." – Orr on the Stars

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.
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: Fans can follow all NAIA Tournament games via live video stream or live stats.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#11 Janay Borum: G; 5' 2"; Senior

Players Mentioned

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

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

#11 Janay Borum
: 5' 2"; Senior
: G

Players Mentioned

#45 Marisha Wallace

#3 Rateska Brown

#11 Janay Borum

Players Mentioned

#45 Marisha Wallace

#3 Rateska Brown

#11 Janay Borum