OCU in Oklahoma City Classic women’s basketball preview

Stars prepare to make 2017-18 home debut

8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17
vs. Langston
3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18
vs. Loyola (La.)
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center

VIDEO | STATS | AUDIO

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University plays its first home women's basketball games of the year against Langston and Loyola (La.) in the Oklahoma City Classic presented by Courtyard Marriott Northwest
• Four games will be played at Abe Lemons Arena on Friday and Saturday, including host OCU, Langston, Loyola (La.) and Southwestern Christian
• Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students and OCU students, faculty and staff get into all regular-season OCU home athletics events free with their ID
• When the Stars score 70 points, fans get a 2-for-1 combo coupon for Raising Cane's

ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City (2-1) returns home after splitting a pair of games in the Southwestern Assemblies of God Classic. In their second game of the event, the Stars rolled past Texas College 88-41, forcing 26 turnovers and holding the Lady Steers to 23.5 percent shooting
• Daniela Galindo, a 5-foot-10 senior from Shattuck, Okla., led OCU against Texas College with 23 points, six assists and two rebounds. She leads the Stars in both scoring and assists, averaging 18.7 points and 3.6 assists per game. Galindo also averages 3.3 steals per contest, the 16th highest mark in NAIA Division I
• Brooke Irwin, a 6-3 senior from Mustang, Okla., added 22 points, five rebounds and two blocks in Saturday's win over Texas College. Irwin averages 13.6 points and 6.6 rebounds on the season
• Alexis Hill, a 6-1 senior from Byng, Okla., recorded the first double-double of the season for OCU with 14 points and 15 boards on Saturday. Of her 8.0 rebounds per game, Hill is pulling down 4.6 of them on the offensive end, the 13th best average in NAIA Division I
• The Stars' pesky defense is leading them to 14.33 steals and a plus-9.0 rebound margin per contest, both top-25 averages in NAIA Division I. On the offensive end, OCU ranks 13th in NAIA Division I in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 37.5 percent from beyond the arc.
• OCU owns the No. 1 spot in the preseason NAIA Division I rankings. Oklahoma City has made 23 trips to the NAIA Division I Tournament and captured nine national championships in 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017
• The Stars have been installed as the favorite to win the Sooner Athletic Conference in the preseason coaches poll. OCU took its 17th SAC regular-season championships and 11th SAC Tournament title in 2016-17
• OCU most recently battled Langston in its season opener on Nov. 1, defeating the Lions 74-72 at C. Felton Gayles Fieldhouse. The Stars faced a seven-point deficit with 53 seconds left, but fought back and got the game-winning bucket from NaShyla Hammons with seven seconds to go. OCU improved to 31-3 all-time vs. Langston
• The Stars last took on Loyola (La.) on Nov. 25, 2016, edging past the Wolf Pack on a buzzer beater from Daniela Wallen to win 63-61 at First NBC Court

ABOUT THE LIONS
• Langston comes off a 78-74 loss to USAO on Tuesday in Chickasha, Okla. Despite the loss, the Lions (2-4) shot 54.2 percent from the field, 70.0 percent from 3-point range and swiped eight steals
• Tennia Hill, a 5-9 junior from Victorville, Calif., scored a game-high 31 points against USAO, shooting 8-of-12 from behind the arc. She leads the team in scoring, averaging 15.1 points per game
• Langston ranks seventh in NAIA Division I in total 3-pointers made with 46, and ninth in 3-point percentage with a 38.3 percent clip.
• The Lions were picked to finish in fifth place out of ten teams in the Red River Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll. The Lady Lions have won the RRAC regular-season title six times and the tournament title five times
• Langston will join the Sooner Athletic Conference as a full-time member for the 2018-19 season

ABOUT THE WOLF PACK
• Loyola (La.) defeated Paul Quinn (Texas) 86-69 on Saturday. The Wolf Pack (3-2) shot 47.1 percent from the field and assisted on 19 of its 33 made baskets. Four different Loyola players had double-digit scoring performances in the win
• Kaila Anthony, a 5-7 sophomore from Pflugerville, Texas, led the Wolf Pack with a team-high 20 points, nine rebounds and five steals against Paul Quinn. Anthony averages 12.0 points and 4.6 rebounds on the season
• Loyola ranks 10th in NAIA Division I in total rebounds per game (46.8) and 13th in total offensive rebounds (234)
• The Wolf Pack was picked to finish second in the Southern States Athletic Conference preseason poll, receiving three first-place votes. Loyola earned SSAC regular season co-champion honors and qualified for the NAIA Tournament in 2016-17

MEET THE COACHES
Bo Overton (56-12, third season with OCU)
• Led Stars to 34-2 season, accruing 2017 NAIA Division I and Sooner Athletic Conference coach of the year awards
• Overton has coached three all-Americans while at OCU, including Wallen, the 2017 NAIA Division I player of the year
• Overton served as an assistant coach for the Chinese national team in the 2012 Olympics
• From 1998-2004, he served as assistant for Oklahoma, which went 143-54 with five NCAA Tournament bids, three NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, the 2002 NCAA runner-up finish and Final Four berth, a 1999 WNIT appearance, three Big 12 regular-season titles and two conference tournament crowns.

Elaine Powell (13-18, second season with Langston)
• Powell previously served as an assistant coach for women's basketball programs at Alabama A&M, Ohio University and Grambling State University
• She spent nearly a decade playing in the WNBA, where she was a three time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock
• Prior to her professional basketball career, Powell attended Louisiana State University (LSU), where she was an all-American and finished her career as LSU's 11th all-time leading scorer with 1,163 points. She was the first player in LSU history to be drafted into the WNBA
Kellie Kennedy (198-85, 10th season with Loyola)
• Kennedy became the all-time winningest women's basketball coach in Loyola history when the Wolf Pack defeated Brewton-Parker (Ga.) 74-55 on Jan. 7, 2016
• She helped lead Loyola to its first ever SSAC Championship Tournament title during the 2014-15 season. The team also began the season 14-0, which marks the best start in program history
• Kennedy joined the Wolf Pack after serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Tulane. During her time at Tulane, the Green Wave saw an impressive eight-year run at the NCAA tournament. While at Tulane, Kennedy also won five Conference-USA Championships and coached four WNBA players

ON THE AIR
• Oklahoma City University athletics provides live and on-demand audio, stats and video of its contests on OCU's Stretch portal. Cost to watch the game is $7.95 per game, $34.95 for a men's basketball season pass and $79.95 for an all-season pass in 2017-18
• Andrew Himes calls the action. Himes enters his seventh season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 10 years starting on color commentary as an OCU student
• Fans can access regular-season broadcasts from NAIA institutions as well as from NAIA Championships postseason contests via Stretch Internet through custom apps on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Users can search for "NAIA" on the app interfaces on any compatible device, and then download the free NAIA Network app

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

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

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

#24 Alexis Hill: C; 6' 1"; Junior

#40 Brooke Irwin: C; 6' 3"; Junior

#25 NaShyla Hammons: F; 5' 11"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

#24 Alexis Hill
: 6' 1"; Junior
: C

#40 Brooke Irwin
: 6' 3"; Junior
: C

#25 NaShyla Hammons
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: F