6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20
Abe Lemons Arena inside the Freede Center
THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University begins Sooner Athletic Conference play at home against Panhandle State
• 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
• OCU trounced Haskell (Kan.) 82-46 on Saturday at Abe Lemons Arena in the finale of the Oklahoma City Classic. The Stars (4-0) dished out a season-high 28 assists
• Mallory Lockhart rang up 18 points on six 3-pointers to lead Oklahoma City on Saturday night. Lockhart also totaled three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Lockhart, a 5-foot-8 sophomore from Keller, Texas, provides the Stars with 19.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.25 steals while shooting 48 percent from 3-point range
• Taylor Sylvester, a 6-5 senior from Chickasha, Okla., furnished OCU with a career-high 16 points to go with 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. Sylvester hit all seven of her field-goal attempts and two free throws on the day. She notched her second career double-double for the Stars. Sylvester has posted 6.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.00 blocks per game with a 66.7 percent field-goal percentage
• The Stars have recorded the most average assists (25.0 per game) in the NAIA this season. Lockhart tops the nation with 24 treys and 6.0 3-pointers per game, while Sylvester rates fourth in rejections per game. To see how the Stars rate among NAIA Division I statistically, click here
• Oklahoma City opens the season at No. 3 in the NAIA Division I rankings. OCU continued the NAIA's longest streak of top-25 appearances with its 254th consecutive national ranking dating back to 1997-98. OCU has made 25 trips, including 22 consecutive appearances, to the NAIA Division I Tournament and captured nine national championships in 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017
• The Stars tied for first in the SAC preseason coaches poll. Oklahoma City took its 19th SAC regular-season championship last season. OCU has won or shared nine of the last 10 league titles, going 220-22 (.909 winning percentage) within SAC play since 2007-08
• OCU rolled to a 78-45 victory over Panhandle State on Feb. 26 in the SAC Tournament quarterfinals at Abe Lemons Arena. Abby Selzer picked up 17 points while shooting 6-for-9 from the field. OCU owns an 8-0 all-time mark against Panhandle
ABOUT THE AGGIES
• Panhandle State crushed University of the Southwest (N.M.) 87-56 on Saturday in Goodwell, Okla., in the Aggie Classic. The Aggies (3-1) shot at least 50 percent from the floor for the third consecutive outing
• Nadia Hayes, a 6-foot senior, had 19 points and five rebounds while hitting 7 of her 8 shots from the field. Hayes averages 12.0 points and 4.0 rebounds a contest. She has an 82.6 percent field-goal percentage (19-for-23)
• Panhandle State has held opponents to 17.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc for the second best mark in NAIA Division I
• SAC coaches pegged Panhandle State to finish ninth in the SAC in 2019-20
MEET THE COACHES
Bo Overton (119-22, fourth season with OCU)
• Led Stars to a 33-5 season with the SAC regular-season crown and an NAIA DI tournament championship trip in 2018-19
• Overton has coached four all-Americans while at OCU, including Daniela Wallen, the 2017 NAIA DI player of the year, and Daniela Galindo, the 2018 WBCA NAIA player of the year
• Overton served as an assistant coach for the Chinese national team in the 2012 Olympic games
• From 1998-2004, Overton served as an assistant for Oklahoma. The Sooners made five NCAA Tournament appearances during that time, with a 2002 NCAA runner-up finish and Final Four berth. He also earned three Big 12 regular-season titles and two conference tournament championships throughout his six years
• He has an overall record coaching college women of 141-69 in seven years as a head coach
Victor Esparza (31-30, third season with Panhandle State)
• Elevated to the head-coaching position after serving 2016-17 as assistant to Charles Terry
• Previously served as head basketball coach at Raton (N.M.) High School
• Panhandle State alum who spent seven years as assistant men's basketball coach and became head men's and women's cross country coach
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, $29.95 for a women's basketball season pass and $79.95 for an all-season pass in 2019-20
• Andrew Himes supplies the play-by-play. Himes enters his ninth season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 12 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
