Women's Basketball 1/22/2021 2:20:00 PM

OCU at Central Christian women's basketball preview

Tahah guides Stars for first time

2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23
Dr. Jerry E. Alexander Arena | McPherson, Kan.

THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University opens women's basketball season visiting Central Christian (Kan.)
• The Stars will compete for the first time under the direction of Brett Tahah

ABOUT THE STARS
• OCU collected the No. 3 national ranking and a No. 1 seed in the NAIA Division I Championship Tournament to secure its 23rd consecutive national-tournament bid until the tournament was called off due to concerns over COVID-19. The Stars (30-2) captured the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season title for the 20th time, fourth year in a row and 10th time in 11 years in 2019-20
• Abby Selzer, a 6-foot-2 junior from Thomas, Okla., nabbed consensus first-team all-American honors, conference female athlete of the year and SAC player of the year last season. She is a two-time all-American, first-team all-SAC and all-tournament in the SAC Tournament with 1,185 career points. Selzer provided the Stars with 17.9 points and 6.8 rebounds a game with six double-doubles the past season
• Mallory Lockhart, a 5-8 junior from Keller, Texas, became an honorable-mention NAIA Division I all-American and first-team all-SAC performer while posting 14.2 points and 1.22 steals per game last season. Lockhart secured her second all-conference honor
• The Stars compiled the No. 1 opposing field-goal percentage (32.2 percent) among NAIA Division I last season. Lockhart sank an OCU single-season record 117 treys, which led the country. To see how the Stars rated among NAIA Division I statistically, click here
• Oklahoma City enters this season at No. 5 for the second consecutive NAIA poll. Oklahoma City tops the NAIA with 264 consecutive appearances in the top 25 dating back to 1997-98
• OCU has captured nine national championships in 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017 and finished as national runner-up four times (2003, 2004, 2005 and 2019)
• Oklahoma City reached 30 wins for the third time in four years and 14th time in program history last season. Since 1998-99, OCU owns a .884 winning percentage with a 677-89 mark. The Stars were projected to finish second in the preseason SAC poll. OCU enters this season with a 239-23 record (.912 winning percentage) within SAC play since 2007-08
• The Stars have gone 7-0 against Central Christian all-time. In the most recent meeting, OCU racked up an 88-51 romp Jan. 30, 2020 in McPherson, Kan. Lockhart produced 22 points and three steals while shooting 6-for-11 from 3-point range

ABOUT THE LADY TIGERS
• Central Christian fell 99-47 to Southwestern Christian on Thursday night in Bethany, Okla. Central Christian (2-8, 0-3 SAC) played its first three league games this season on the road
• Destiny Broussard, a 6-foot junior, and Josie Cook, a 5-4 junior, had nine points each to lead the Lady Tigers. Broussard grabbed six rebounds. Tania Lowe, a 5-3 senior, averages a team-best 12.3 points a game
• The Lady Tigers have allowed foes to shoot 36.5 percent from the field this season
• League coaches placed Central Christian at 11th in the preseason SAC poll

MEET THE COACHES
Brett Tahah (first season with OCU)
• Tahah became the first former Oklahoma City player to take over the program as head coach. Tahah (nee' Bates) helped the Stars advance to two NAIA Division I Championship Tournament Fab Four appearances, two conference tournament championships, one SAC regular-season title and an .863 winning percentage (63-10) from 2008-10
• Accumulated a 117-50 head-coaching record (.701 winning percentage) with two state tournament semifinal berths in six years at Oklahoma high schools Frontier, Elgin, Hobart and Lookeba-Sickles
• Tahah coached eight all-staters and collected two regional coach of the year honors on the prep level
• During her college career, Tahah tallied 1,227 points and 178 3-pointers and became league player of the year

Marc Golden (14-83, fourth season with Central Christian)
• Guided Fort Myers Evangelical Christian (Fla.) to a 42-11 record and back-to-back district titles in three years
• Spent four years as an assistant at Baptist Bible (Mo.), his alma mater
• Coached two National Christian College Athletic Association all-Americans at Baptist Bible

ON THE AIR
• Central Christian will offer live video and stats of the game

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