OCU vs. Wayland Baptist women's basketball preview

Stars have gone 121-7 in conference play with six SAC titles since 2009-10

Leah Cheney leads OCU with 3.5 assists a game.

Women's Basketball | 1/27/2016 2:33:00 PM

6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28
Abe Lemons Arena inside Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University squares off with Wayland Baptist (Texas) in a clash of top 25-ranked squads and the top two teams in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
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 blew past USAO 62-48 on Saturday in Chickasha, Okla. OCU (11-4, 8-0 SAC) moved its winning streak in conference games to 12 and has won 30 of its past 31 SAC contests.
Daniela Wallen, a 5-foot-11 junior from Caracas, Venezuela, collected 23 points, three assists and a season-best seven steals while playing all 40 minutes. Wallen tops the team in scoring (21.4 points a game), rebounding (9.1), steals (3.29) and field-goal percentage (53.2 percent).
Leah Cheney, a 5-6 junior from Ault, Colo., supplied OCU with 11 points, six rebounds and three assists in a 40-minute effort. Cheney compiles 7.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.73 steals a contest. Allison Frey, a 5-9 sophomore from Mustang, Okla., had 11 points, two assists and two steals. Frey averages 10.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game while shooting 38.1 percent from 3-point range.
The Stars stand 12th in defensive rebounds a game (29.6) led by Wallen's 7.1 defensive rebounds average, which ranks second among NAIA Division I. To see how OCU compares with the NAIA Division I statistical leaders this season, click here.
OCU holds the 14th spot in this week's NAIA Division I rankings. OCU made the top 25 for the 196th consecutive poll 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.
Oklahoma City's all-time record against Wayland Baptist sits at 36-19. OCU edged the Flying Queens 80-78 on Feb. 12, 2015 in Plainview, Texas as the Stars held Wayland Baptist scoreless the last 1:22 of the tilt.

ABOUT THE FLYING QUEENS: Wayland Baptist crushed Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) 78-51 on Saturday in Waxahachie, Texas. Wayland Baptist (12-4, 7-1 SAC) has outscored opponents by an average margin of 24.3 points during its current eight-game win streak.
Shayla Monreal, a 5-6 junior, turned in 16 points, three assists and three steals. Monreal accrues 10.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists a contest. Stephanie Afunugo, a 5-11 senior, had 15 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Afunugo averages 12.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.88 thefts a game.
Wayland Baptist, ranked 21st in the latest poll, has a 77.9 percent free-throw percentage, which ranks second nationally. Wayland Baptist had been favored to win the SAC in the preseason.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Bo Overton is in his debut season with OCU. Overton has a wide array of 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.
Alesha Robertson-Ellis has guided Wayland Baptist to a 51-28 record with two appearances in the NAIA Tournament in her third season at the helm. She took Lubbock Christian High School (Texas) to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) Class 3A state championship prior to becoming the Wayland coach. The four-time all-state player helped Plainview High School (Texas) win three consecutive Class 4A state titles from 2001-03, then went on to play four seasons for Texas Tech.

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 adds the play-by-play. 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

#10 Leah Cheney: G; 5' 6"; Junior

#34 Allison Frey: G; 5' 9"; Sophomore

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

Players Mentioned

#10 Leah Cheney
: 5' 6"; Junior
: G

#34 Allison Frey
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: G

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

Players Mentioned

#10 Leah Cheney

#34 Allison Frey

#22 Daniela Wallen

Players Mentioned

#10 Leah Cheney

#34 Allison Frey

#22 Daniela Wallen