OCU vs. Southwestern Christian women's basketball preview

Stars look to halt two-game losing skid

Markeisha Johnson did not play against Southwestern Christian earlier this season.

Women's Basketball | 2/15/2016 12:53:00 PM

6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University entertains Southwestern Christian in a special Big Monday Sooner Athletic Conference matchup.
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: No. 14-ranked Wayland Baptist (Texas) tripped up Oklahoma City 72-60 on Thursday in Plainview, Texas. The Stars (13-7, 10-3 SAC) went to 3-5 against ranked NAIA Division I opponents this season.
Daniela Wallen, a 5-foot-11 junior from Caracas, Venezuela, supplied OCU with 13 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals. She records 20.6 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.58 steals per game and a 51.9 percent field-goal percentage, all team highs. Wallen tops the conference in scoring, steals and double-doubles (nine).
Allison Frey, a 5-9 sophomore from Mustang, Okla., added 12 points while hitting 4 of 5 3-pointers. Frey accumulates 10.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game along with a 39.3 percent 3-point shooting clip. Leah Cheney, a 5-6 junior from Ault, Colo., had 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and four steals. Cheney averages 6.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.80 thefts a game.
OCU's 11.00 steals and 42.2 percent field-goal percentage rank 17th in the NAIA, while Wallen holds second in scoring and defensive rebounds per game (7.1) among NAIA Division I. Check out how OCU compares with the rest of NAIA Division I this season statistically by clicking here.
Oklahoma City went to 18th in the most previous NAIA Division I rankings. OCU has been in every poll for 199 consecutive rankings 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. OCU owns a 123-10 record in league play since 2009-10.
The Stars have a 6-0 all-time mark against Southwestern Christian. OCU took a 57-42 victory Dec. 5 in Bethany, Okla., to begin 2015-16 league play. Wallen powered the Stars with 23 points, 19 rebounds and four steals.

ABOUT THE LADY EAGLES: Southwestern Christian posted a 66-55 win over St. Gregory's on Thursday in Bethany, Okla. Southwestern Christian (11-12, 8-5 SAC) shot a season-best 54.8 percent from the field.
Maranda Janz, a 5-7 junior, lifted Southwestern Christian with 21 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Janz provides her team 13.5 points and 5.5 rebounds a game. Adrianna White, a 5-8 junior, and Andi McGill, a 5-6 sophomore, each had 16 points. McGill averages 13.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.86 steals per contest.
Southwestern Christian's 71.1 percent free-throw percentage ranks 18th nationally this season. SAC coaches predicted Southwestern Christian would finish seventh in the conference.

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.
Mark Arthur added women's basketball coach to his duties in addition to Southwestern Christian athletic director and men's golf coach in August. Arthur amassed a 404-329 record with four NCCAA championships and four ACCA championships as Southwestern Christian men's basketball coach from 1992-2012. The court at Pickens-Springer Gymnasium is named after Arthur, also a Southwestern Christian hall of famer.

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 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 hoops games and $79.95 to watch all of OCU's action in every sport in 2015-16.
Andrew Himes provides 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