OCU vs. Mid-America Christian women's basketball preview

Stars bring 10-game win streak into Thursday's showdown

Bo Overton has 53 victories in his fifth year as a women's college head coach.

Women's Basketball | 1/4/2017 1:32:00 PM

6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

THE MATCHUP: Oklahoma City University kicks off the second semester of the season entertaining Mid-America Christian in a showdown of teams unbeaten 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.

ABOUT THE STARS: The Stars took a 60-46 victory over Benedictine (Kan.) on Dec. 17 at Abe Lemons Arena. OCU (11-1, 2-0 SAC) improved to 5-0 against ranked NAIA foes this season.
Daniela Wallen, a 5-foot-11 senior from Caracas, Venezuela, delivered 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals. She posted her third consecutive double-double and eighth this season. Wallen provides OCU with 23.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 3.58 steals a game, ranking second nationally in scoring.
Daniela Galindo, a 5-10 junior from Shattuck, Okla., picked up 16 points and six rebounds. Galindo compiles 16.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.92 steals a contest with an 89.7 percent free-throw percentage, which ranks fourth in the NAIA. Mariana Duran, a 5-7 senior from Yaracuy, Venezuela, had seven points, seven rebounds, 10 assists and nine thefts. She had season bests in rebounding, assists and steals. Duran averages 7.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 2.33 steals per game.
The Stars top the NAIA with a 50.5 percent field-goal percentage. To see where OCU ranks against the NAIA statistically, click here.
Oklahoma City went up to eighth in the latest rankings. OCU improved its streak of top-25 appearances to 207 consecutive polls since 1999-2000. OCU owns national championships from 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2014 and 2015. SAC coaches installed the Stars as the league's preseason favorite. OCU has won or shared the SAC regular-season crown 16 times.
OCU have gone 20-0 vs. Mid-America Christian over the years. The Stars escaped with an 87-85 win March 4, 2016 in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals in Waxahachie, Texas. Catherine Kruschke supplied the winning free throws with 12 seconds remaining.

ABOUT THE LADY EVANGELS: Mid-America Christian stomped Bethel (Kan.) 89-48 on Saturday at the Gaulke Activity Center in Oklahoma City. Mid-America (11-2, 2-0 SAC) used a 17-3 second-quarter run to build a 26-point lead just before halftime.
Sarai Rodriguez, a 5-5 junior, spearheaded Mid-America with 21 points and two steals. Rodriguez produces 20.5 points and 3.9 assists per contest with a 40.6 percent 3-point shooting clip. Nevada Denton, a 5-9 freshman, had 17 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Denton averages 9.1 points and 3.7 rebounds a game.
Mid-America Christian leads the NAIA with 51.2 rebounds and 35.4 defensive rebounds a game. The Lady Evangels had been slotted to finish sixth among the SAC in the preseason.

ABOUT THE COACHES: Bo Overton returns to OCU for his second season as its head coach. Overton has 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.
Hannah Moeller took over as Mid-America Christian coach this season after spending the previous four years as Randall head coach. Moeller directed Randall to a 105-28 record with two Association of Christian College Athletics championships, an ACCA runner-up finish and the 2016 National Christian College Athletic Association runner-up finish. Moeller, the NCCAA coach of the year last season, served as an assistant at Mid-America in 2010-11 under former OCU men's assistant Roman Owen, who's currently a Yale assistant.

QUOTABLE: "She's unbelievable. The thing about her is, if you got to see this game, is how hard she plays no matter what. Some people get down on themselves a little. She just plays so hard, anticipating where that ball is going and rebounding. She had a great first semester." – Overton on Wallen

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, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Receive the latest OCU athletic headlines via e-mail by going here.
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 Wallen 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 OCU's games via live audio, stats and video by visiting OCU's Stretch portal by clicking here. Cost to watch each game is $7.95 per game, $34.95 to see all 2016-17 home basketball games and $79.95 to watch all of OCU's action in every sport in 2016-17.
Andrew Himes serves as the play-by-play man. Himes, in his sixth season as the voice of the Stars, has been broadcasting OCU games for nine years starting on color commentary as an OCU student.

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Players Mentioned

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

#20 Mariana Duran: G; 5' 7"; Senior

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

#5 Daniela Galindo: G; 5' 10"; Junior

Players Mentioned

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

#20 Mariana Duran
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

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

#5 Daniela Galindo
: 5' 10"; Junior
: G