OCU has made the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship in each of the last three years.

Women's Basketball 3/1/2018 1:49:00 PM

OCU vs. Wayland Baptist women’s basketball preview

Stars battle Flying Queens for spot in SAC championship game

1 p.m. Friday, March 2
Bill George Arena in Siloam Springs, Ark.

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University aims to punch its ticket to its fourth consecutive Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament championship with a win over Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Friday
• The winner of the OCU-Wayland Baptist semifinal takes on the winner of the USAO-John Brown (Ark.) semifinal in the conference championship Saturday at 1 p.m.
• The Stars are 0-2 against Wayland Baptist this season, losing by an average of 8.0 points per game

ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City dominated Bacone in the SAC Tournament quarterfinal, smashing the Lady Warriors 82-48 Tuesday at Abe Lemons Arena. The Stars (26-5) held Bacone to 27.6 percent shooting and 10.5 percent from downtown
• JoHanna Beathard, a 6-foot-1 sophomore from Fletcher, Okla., led OCU with a career-high 20 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's win. Beathard is averaging 14.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in her last two contests
• Daniela Galindo, a 5-foot-11 senior from Shattuck, Okla., added eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals against Bacone. Galindo was recently named 2018 SAC women's basketball player of the year, thanks to a 20.9 scoring average that leads the conference and is fifth in NAIA Division I
• Among NAIA Division I, OCU ranks second in free throw percentage (78.5), fourth in both total blocks (141) and 3-point percentage (37.8), and sixth in total rebound margin (plus-9.07). To see how the Stars stack up against the field in other categories, click here
• OCU improved to No. 5 in the latest NAIA Division I rankings. Oklahoma City extended the NAIA's longest streak of top-25 appearances to 245 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 a share of its 18th SAC regular-season championship on Sunday and won its 11th SAC Tournament title in 2016-17. The Stars have won or shared eight of the past nine SAC regular-season titles
• Wayland Baptist knocked off OCU in the last meeting between the two teams 73-66 on Feb. 10 in Plainview, Texas. OCU leads the all-time series 38-25

ABOUT THE FLYING QUEENS
• Wayland Baptist handled Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) in the SAC Tournament quarterfinals 93-45 Tuesday in Plainview, Texas. The Flying Queens (24-5) forced their opponent into 23 turnovers and outrebounded SAGU by 11
• Maci Merket, a 5-10 junior, posted nine points, eight rebounds and five assists in Tuesday's win. Merket leads Wayland Baptist with 14.7 points per game and was named to the 2018 All-SAC first team
• Among NAIA Division I, Wayland Baptist ranks second in assists per game (19.3), fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.19) and fifth in 3's made per game (8.67). To see how the Flying Queens rank in other categories, click here
• SAC coaches predicted Wayland Baptist to finish third in the league in the preseason poll
• Wayland Baptist fell to No. 13 in the latest NAIA Division I rankings
• Wayland Baptist became the first women's college basketball program to reach 1,600 victories in an 88-79 win over Texas Wesleyan on Nov. 30 in Plainview, Texas

MEET THE COACHES
Bo Overton (80-16, 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, three Big 12 regular-season titles and two conference tournament crowns

Alesha Ellis (112-41, fifth season with WBU)
• Wayland Baptist handed Ellis her 100th career win in four-plus seasons as head coach a 65-39 win over Panhandle State on Jan. 15
• Ellis has led Wayland Baptist to four consecutive appearances in the NAIA Division I Tournament. In her first year as head coach, Ellis led the Flying Queens to a 20-12 record and a trip to the national tournament for just the second time in a decade
• Ellis took Lubbock Christian High School (Texas) to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) Class 3A state championship prior to becoming the Wayland coach

ON THE AIR
• Tournament host John Brown (Ark.) will provide live video and live stats for all remaining Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament games. For more information, visit the SAC women's basketball tournament homepage

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Players Mentioned

#30 JoHanna Beathard: F; 6' 1"; Sophomore

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

Players Mentioned

#30 JoHanna Beathard
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: F

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

Players Mentioned

#30 JoHanna Beathard

#5 Daniela Galindo

Players Mentioned

#30 JoHanna Beathard

#5 Daniela Galindo