Payton Taylor had eight points, five assists and four steals against Texas Wesleyan.

Women's Basketball 1/12/2018 1:12:00 PM

OCU at Southwestern Christian women’s basketball preview

Stars look to stay perfect in SAC play

3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13
Pickens-Springer Gymnasium in Bethany, Okla.

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University puts its undefeated conference record on the line with a Sooner Athletic Conference matchup against Southwestern Christian
• The Stars have taken seven in a row overall plus own a 17-game winning streak within SAC play. OCU has won 28 of its last 29 within the league
• OCU has won its last five games against the Eagles by an average of 21.8 points

ABOUT THE STARS
• The Stars dominated Texas Wesleyan 82-62 on Jan. 6 in Fort Worth, Texas. Oklahoma City (13-2, 6-0 SAC) outscored the Rams 34-9 in the third quarter and turned 19 Texas Wesleyan turnovers into 28 points. OCU took forfeits from St. Gregory's for Thursday's originally scheduled games
• Taylor LaCour, a 6-foot-1 junior from Georgetown, Texas, scored a season-high 22 points on 7 of 13 shooting against the Rams. LaCour enters Saturday's contest averaging 13.4 points and 6.4 boards per game
• Daniela Galindo, a 5-foot-10 senior from Shattuck, Okla., added 18 points, five rebounds and four assists in the win over TWU. She leads the team in scoring with 20.9 points per game, which ranks as the third best average in NAIA Division I. Galindo also ranks fifth in made 3's per game (3.0) and sixth in free throw percentage (85.0)
• Payton Taylor, a 5-foot-11 freshman from Ada, Okla., fueled the Stars with eight points, five assists and four steals against Texas Wesleyan. Over her last three games, Taylor is averaging 8.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 steals
• Among NAIA Division I, Oklahoma City has the best overall free throw percentage at 78.2. The Stars rank fourth in 3-point field goal percentage (38.7), fifth in defensive rebounds per game (30.6) and seventh in overall field goal percentage (46.5). To see how the Stars stack up in other categories within NAIA Division I, click here
• OCU sits at No. 8 in the latest NAIA Division I top 25 poll. Oklahoma City appeared in the rankings for the 241st consecutive time since 1997-98 for the NAIA's longest such streak. OCU 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. The Stars have won or shared seven of the past eight SAC regular-season titles and have gone 151-11 (.932 winning percentage) in league play during that span
• In its most recent meeting with Southwestern Christian, OCU routed the Eagles 88-53 on Feb. 2, 2017 at Pickens-Springer Gymnasium. Galindo had her third straight game of 25 or more points and the Stars' defense held their opponent to 29.0 percent shooting. The Stars are 9-0 against SCU all-time

ABOUT THE EAGLES
• Southwestern Christian snapped its three-game losing streak with a 72-58 victory over Central Christian (Kan.) on Thursday in McPherson, Kan. The Eagles (6-6, 3-4 SAC) scored 21 points off 22 Central Christian turnovers
• Eliora Johnson, a 5-foot-11 senior from Toronto, Canada, notched her seventh double-double of the season on Thursday, collecting 25 rebounds and adding 22 points. Johnson averages 14.5 points and an NAIA Division I-best 12.7 rebounds per game
• Kylee Vestal, a 5-foot-8 sophomore from Enid, Okla., finished with 16 points, five steals and four assists against Central Christian. Vestal has scored double-digits in six of the team's 12 games this year
• Southwestern Christian ranks 18th in NAIA Division I in turnover margin, boasting of a plus-4.1 margin per game. The Eagles also rank 44th in blocks per game with 2.67
• Southwestern Christian was picked to finish seventh in the Sooner Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll

MEET THE COACHES
Bo Overton (67-13, 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 Daniela 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. During that time, the Sooners made five NCAA Tournament trips with the 2002 NCAA runner-up finish and Final Four berth with three Big 12 regular-season titles and two conference tournament crowns

Mark Arthur (38-38, third season with SCU)
• Arthur previously coached the SCU men's basketball program for 20 years until he stepped down to become full-time athletic director in 2012
• In his first year as the women's basketball head coach, Arthur led the Eagles to their highest finish in the SAC standings since joining the conference in 2013 (third place)
• In 2008, the court in Pickens-Springer Gymnasium was named 'Mark Arthur Court' in recognition of Arthur's achievements at SCU. He was inducted into the SCU Hall of Fame in 2013

ON THE AIR
• Oklahoma City University will carry live and on-demand audio of the contest on OCU's Stretch portal
• Andrew Himes provides the play-by-play. 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
• Southwestern Christian provides live and on-demand statistics and video of its contests on its YouTube channel and DakStats webcast

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Players Mentioned

#5 Daniela Galindo: G; 5' 11"; Senior

#23 Payton Taylor: F; 6' 0"; Freshman

#14 Taylor LaCour: C; 6' 1"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#5 Daniela Galindo
: 5' 11"; Senior
: G

#23 Payton Taylor
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: F

#14 Taylor LaCour
: 6' 1"; Junior
: C

Players Mentioned

#5 Daniela Galindo

#23 Payton Taylor

#14 Taylor LaCour

Players Mentioned

#5 Daniela Galindo

#23 Payton Taylor

#14 Taylor LaCour