Seniors Markeisha Johnson and Catherine Kruschke contributed to OCU's back-to-back national championships.

Women's Basketball 2/26/2016 11:56:00 AM

OCU vs. St. Gregory's women's basketball preview

Stars aim to win for seniors Johnson, Kruschke

3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University closes the regular season with senior night vs. St. Gregory's.
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: Oklahoma City posted a 53-46 victory off Texas Wesleyan on Thursday night in Fort Worth, Texas. The Stars (17-7, 14-3 SAC) increased their advantage into double digits with a 9-2 fourth-quarter run powered by Daniela Wallen's seven points.
Wallen, a 5-foot-11 junior from Caracas, Venezuela, notched her league-high 12th double-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals. She provides OCU with 20.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.57 steals and 51.6 percent shooting from the field. Wallen, a four-time SAC player of the week, tops the SAC in steals while ranking in the NAIA top 10 in scoring, rebounding and steals.
Markeisha Johnson, a 5-9 senior from Mansura, La., turned in 13 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots. Johnson accrues 8.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.11 steals a game. Janae Haag, a 5-10 junior from Olpe, Kan., had six points, nine rebounds and five assists. Haag averages 5.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists and 1.76 steals per game.
Among NAIA Division I, OCU ranks 15th with 34.7 defensive rebounds per game led by Wallen, who ranks second with 7.4 defensive rebounds. Check out how OCU compares with the rest of NAIA Division I this season statistically by clicking here.
Oklahoma City went to 17th in this week's national rankings. OCU has been in all 200 NAIA polls 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. Since 2009-10, OCU has a 127-10 record (.927 winning percentage) in SAC games.
Oklahoma City has gone 40-1 against St. Gregory's over the years. The Stars rallied past St. Gregory's 68-64 on Jan. 21 in Shawnee, Okla. Catherine Kruschke propelled OCU with 15 points and 16 rebounds.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS: St. Gregory's popped John Brown (Ark.) 81-77 in overtime Thursday in Shawnee, Okla. Denisha Lundy gave St. Gregory's (9-17, 6-11 SAC) the lead for good with a 3-pointer with 1:25 left in the game.
Lundy, a 5-6 senior, exploded for a career-best 32 points to go with six rebounds, seven assists, two steals and five treys. Lundy provides her team 13.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.50 steals a game. Kylee Tatum, a 5-10 junior, had 19 points, three rebounds and three 3s. Tatum averages 14.1 points and 4.0 rebounds a game.
St. Gregory's sinks 7.8 3-pointers a game to rank eighth in the NAIA. St. Gregory's, likely the seventh seed in the SAC Tournament, had been picked to finish ninth in the league 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.
Jenone Bell is in her first season as St. Gregory's coach. Bell spent last season as assistant at St. Gregory's to Josiah White. Bell had previously been a head coach at Southern-Shreveport (La.) for three years, going 34-48.

QUOTABLE: "Our defense was very good. Daniela had a solid game. I thought Markeisha Johnson attacked the basket very well and got us some baskets in transition. I'm really proud of the way Janae played." – Overton on Thursday's win

ABOUT THE SAC TOURNAMENT: The nation's premier NAIA basketball conference stages its postseason tournament at the Sheaffer Center in Waxahachie, Texas on March 2-5. NAIA Division I Tournament berths will be at stake in the SAC men's and women's basketball tournaments. OCU has clinched the second seed in the tournament.

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.
Joel Reagan will call the games. Reagan served as the regular voice of the Stars in 2005-06 and provided play-by-play for OCU's NAIA men's basketball championship game appearances in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

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Players Mentioned

#25 Markeisha Johnson: F; 5' 9"; Senior

#24 Catherine Kruschke: F; 6' 0"; Senior

#14 Janae Haag: G; 5' 10"; Junior

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

Players Mentioned

#25 Markeisha Johnson
: 5' 9"; Senior
: F

#24 Catherine Kruschke
: 6' 0"; Senior
: F

#14 Janae Haag
: 5' 10"; Junior
: G

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