OCU vs. Shawnee State women's basketball preview

Stars meet Shawnee State for third time in national-tournament play

10:45 a.m. CDT Friday, March 20
Independence Events Center in Independence, Mo.

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University continues NAIA Division I Tournament play with a second-round contest against Shawnee State (Ohio).
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: Ouleymatou Coulibaly sank free throws with three tenths of a second remaining to give Oklahoma City a 63-61 win over Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) on Wednesday in the tournament first round. OCU (26-2) won a first-round national-tournament matchup for the seventh consecutive time.
Rateska Brown, a 5-foot-6 senior from Alvin, S.C., boosted OCU with 24 points and four rebounds. Brown hit 6 of 12 3-point shots. Brown supplies OCU with 19.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.71 steals per game.
Yvonte Neal, a 5-7 senior from Spring Valley, Calif., picked up 15 points and six rebounds. Neal accumulates 14.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.44 steals a contest. Coulibaly, a 6-2 senior from Bamako, Mali, West Africa, had nine points and 10 rebounds, including six of OCU's final eight points of the game. Coulibaly averages 15.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.
Oklahoma City's 18.2 assists a game rank second in the NAIA. To see how OCU compares with the NAIA Division I statistical leaders, click here.
The Stars 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 faces Shawnee State for the third time in the NAIA Tournament. The Stars evened the all-time series by edging Shawnee State 56-54 on March 13, 2013 in the round of 16 in Frankfort, Ky. Kayla MacKenzie hit a free throw for the final margin with 6.2 seconds left.

ABOUT THE BEARS: Shawnee State ousted 15th-ranked The Master's (Calif.) 69-57 on Wednesday. Shawnee State (25-9) improved to 5-0 in first-round national-tournament contests.
Ashley McMurtrey, a 5-10 freshman, led all scorers with 19 points while hitting all three of her 3-point attempts. McMurtrey scores 12.9 points a game while knocking in 34.3 percent from 3-point range. Shavon Robinson, a 5-9 senior, had 17 points while shooting 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. She averages 12.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.95 steals a game.
Shawnee State ranks seventh in the NAIA with 506 assists. The Bears garnered the 18th spot in the latest top-25 poll.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Latricia Trammell was the 2014 NAIA Division I Phyllis Holmes coach of the year. Trammell has an 81-10 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 146-86 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.
Jeff Nickel has directed Shawnee State to two national-tournament berths in as many seasons as head coach. He has a 45-22 record at the helm. Nickel served as assistant to former Shawnee State coach and NAIA Hall of Famer Robin Hagen-Smith.

STAYING IN OKC? Fans are invited to come to the Leichter Room above Abe Lemons Arena to watch the game.

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ON THE AIR: Fans can follow the game via live video stream or live stats.

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Players Mentioned

#14 Kayla MacKenzie: G; 5' 6"; Senior

#21 Ouleymatou Coulibaly: C; 6' 2"; Senior

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

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

Players Mentioned

#14 Kayla MacKenzie
: 5' 6"; Senior
: G

#21 Ouleymatou Coulibaly
: 6' 2"; Senior
: C

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

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