Brooke Irwin added nine points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in OCU's last outing against USAO.

Women's Basketball 1/31/2018 1:07:00 PM

OCU at USAO women’s basketball preview

Top-two teams in SAC standings prepare to collide

6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1
USAO Fieldhouse in Chickasha, Okla.

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University hits the road for a battle against USAO, pitting the Sooner Athletic Conference's top two teams against one another
• OCU enters Thursday's contest with a one-game lead in the conference standings over the Drovers and 1.5-game lead over No. 6 Wayland Baptist (Texas)
• The Stars have won their past five games against USAO by an average of 10.8 points

ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City comes off a 66-51 victory over John Brown (Ark.) Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (18-3, 11-1 SAC) outscored the Golden Eagles 34-18 in the second half and set a season record for fewest points allowed in a quarter (4)
• Brooke Irwin, a 6-foot-3 senior from Mustang, Okla., delivered a team-high 14 points to go along with five rebounds and two blocks against JBU. Irwin gives the Stars 12.7 points per game and averages 1.2 blocks per game, ranking her 34th in NAIA Division I in that category
• Daniela Galindo, a 5-foot-10 senior from Shattuck, Okla., added 12 points, five boards and five assists in Saturday's win. She ranks third in Division I in free throw percentage (85.9), fifth in total scoring (405), sixth in points per game (20.3) and eighth in 3s made per game (2.8)
• NaShyla Hammons, a 5-foot-11 sophomore from Oklahoma City, contributed 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a block against JBU. In her last three games, Hammons is putting up 12.6 points, 8.0 boards, 2.7 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.7 blocks
• Among NAIA Division I, OCU ranks second in free throw percentage (76.6), fifth in defensive rebounds per game (30.2) and 3-point field goal percentage (37.6), and sixth in defensive field goal percentage (33.1) and total blocks (97)
• The Stars moved up to the No. 4 spot in the latest NAIA Division I rankings. Oklahoma City extended the NAIA's longest streak of top-25 appearances to 243 consecutive rankings dating back to 1997-98. 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 with a 156-12 mark (.929 winning percentage) in conference play during that time
• Oklahoma City leads the overall series against USAO 54-3. OCU last defeated the Drovers 65-58 on Dec. 6 at Abe Lemons Arena. Galindo led all scorers with 30 points

ABOUT THE DROVERS
• USAO won its fourth game in a row after defeating Texas Wesleyan 66-59 Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas. The Drovers (18-3, 10-2 SAC) rallied to a second-half comeback despite finishing the game with 26 turnovers
• Vivian Holcomb, a 6-foot-1 junior from Indianapolis, Ind., poured in 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the win over TWU. Holcomb averages 9.8 points per contest and ranks 11th in Division I in offensive rebounds per game with 3.75
• Dierra Ely, a 5-10 senior from Arlington, Texas, leads the Drovers with 13.9 points per game. She finished with 10 points and six rebounds in Saturday's win
• Among NAIA Division I, USAO ranks 10th in blocks per game (4.1), 13th in total rebound margin (plus-8.1) and 14th in scoring defense per game (57.6)
• Conference coaches predicted USAO to finish fifth in the league in the preseason SAC poll

MEET THE COACHES
Bo Overton (72-14, 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. During that time, the Sooners made five NCAA Tournament trips with the 2002 NCAA runner-up finish and Final Four berth, three Big 12 regular-season titles and two conference tournament crowns

Darrick Matthews (35-28 third season with USAO)
• Guided USAO to a 12-16 record and a sixth-place finish in the SAC last season
• Overall head-coaching record stands at 41-55 including one season at Southwestern Christian, where he led the Lady Eagles to a fourth-place finish in the 2015 National Christian College Athletic Association Division I Tournament
• Began his college playing career at Oklahoma Christian, then transferred to the University of the Southwest (N.M.), where he became an all-conference performer playing for Quinn Wooldridge, who would eventually become an OCU assistant. Matthews completed his college career at McMurry (Texas)

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
• USAO provides live and on-demand statistics and video of its contests on its YouTube channel and athletics website

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

#5 Daniela Galindo

#25 NaShyla Hammons

#40 Brooke Irwin

Players Mentioned

#5 Daniela Galindo

#25 NaShyla Hammons

#40 Brooke Irwin