6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23
USAO Fieldhouse | Chickasha, Okla.
THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University seeks to equal its finest undefeated start in nine years in a road contest against USAO
• The Stars have gone undefeated through 16 games to open the season for their best start to a season since beginning 2010-11 with 17 wins in a row
ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City rallied past John Brown (Ark.) 76-61 on Saturday in Siloam Springs, Ark. The Stars (16-0, 8-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) erased a four-point second-quarter deficit with an 8-0 run that put OCU on top for good
• Abby Selzer, a 6-foot-2 sophomore from Thomas, Okla., surpassed 20 points for the second time in a row with 23 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots in 22 minutes of play. She downed all eight of her field-goal tries and 7 of 10 free-throw attempts. Selzer turns in 17.2 points and 5.1 rebounds a contest with a 66.9 percent shooting percentage from the floor
• Mallory Lockhart, a 5-8 sophomore from Keller, Texas, posted 16 points while shooting 4-for-10 from beyond the 3-point line. Lockhart registers 16.3 points and 1.6 rebounds per game with a 42.7 percent 3-point shooting clip and 85.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line
• OCU leads NAIA Division I with a 78.5 percent free-throw percentage and 25.5 points per game scoring margin. Lockhart tops the NAIA with 4.19 treys hit a game, while Selzer paces the country with her field-goal percentage. To see how the Stars rate among NAIA Division I statistically, click here
• Oklahoma City stood at No. 2 in the latest NAIA Division I rankings. The Stars garnered four No. 1 votes and 215 points, but fell short of the top spot by one point to The Master's (Calif.). OCU holds the NAIA's longest streak of top-25 appearances with its 257th 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 228-22 (.912 winning percentage) within SAC play since 2007-08
• OCU leads the series vs. USAO 57-4
• The Stars prevailed 65-53 on Feb. 21, 2019 at Abe Lemons Arena in the most previous contest vs. USAO. Selzer supplied OCU with 21 points and nine rebounds
ABOUT THE DROVERS
• USAO reeled off a 99-67 victory over Texas Wesleyan on Saturday in Chickasha, Okla. The Drovers (11-5, 6-2 SAC) reached 90 points for the third time this season
• Reyna Ammons, a 5-6 senior, had a career-best 32 points to go with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Ammons recorded 27.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 5.50 steals a contest last week en route to becoming NAIA and SAC player of the week. Ammons averages 18.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 3.50 thefts per game
• The Drovers collect 5.75 blocked shots a game to hold second among NAIA Division I
• USAO drew the third spot in the preseason SAC coaches poll
MEET THE COACHES
Bo Overton (131-22, fifth 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
• Overton collected his 150th career win coaching women's college basketball 85-70 over Southwestern Assemblies of God on Jan. 11 in Waxahachie, Texas. He has a 153-69 mark in seven years as a head women's basketball coach
• Overton landed his first ever whoopdirt.com coach of the week nod after leading OCU to a 3-0 mark during the week of Jan. 13-19
Darrick Matthews (78-58, fifth season with USAO)
• Collected 2018 John Hudson SAC coach of the year after directing USAO to a 29-6 record and its first SAC regular-season title, sharing the conference crown with OCU
• Overall head-coaching record stands at 96-77 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
• USAO offers live video and stats of the game here
• Oklahoma City University athletics provides live and on-demand audio of its contests on OCU's Stretch portal. Listen to the game live here
• Andrew Himes calls the action. 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
