6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8
Abe Lemons Arena inside Freede Center
THE MATCHUP
• Oklahoma City University faces Sooner Athletic Conference women's basketball foe Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) in the second of a three-game set at Abe Lemons Arena this week
• Thursday's contest will be the third of a five-game run of home games for the Stars
• Tickets cost $7 for adults and $5 for students. All tickets must be purchased via OCU's HomeTown Ticketing portal. No tickets are to be purchased via cash on site. OCU students, faculty and staff gain admission to all OCU regular-season home athletics events free of charge with their ID
ABOUT THE STARS
• Oklahoma City fell 66-51 to John Brown (Ark.) on Tuesday night at Abe Lemons Arena. Annilia Dawn hit a 3-pointer to reduce John Brown's lead to 52-45 with 6:10 remaining for the Stars (3-6, 1-4 SAC)
• Dawn, a 5-foot-5 senior from Amarillo, Texas, generated 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. She has scored 15.6 points a game over the past three games. Dawn has supplied OCU with 11.1 points and 2.6 assists a game this season
• Cacie Gorman, a 6-foot junior from Watonga, Okla., chipped in eight points and four rebounds while hitting 4 of 5 shots from the field. Gorman has compiled 6.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.11 blocked shots a contest this season
• The Stars took the seventh spot in the preseason Sooner Athletic Conference coaches poll. Oklahoma City has seized 20 SAC regular-season championships and 12 SAC Tournament titles. Oklahoma City owns 26 appearances in the NAIA Division I Championship Tournament with nine national championships won in 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017 with four national runner-up finishes (2003, 2004, 2005, 2019)
• Oklahoma City has gone 16-1 against Southwestern Assemblies of God over the years. The Stars cruised to a 78-57 win Jan. 27 at Abe Lemons Arena. Fiona Wilson led all scorers with 19 points
ABOUT THE LADY LIONS
• Southwestern Assemblies of God fell to Texas Wesleyan 90-65 on Saturday in Waxahachie, Texas. The Lady Lions (2-7, 1-4 SAC) surrendered a season-worst 90 points and committed their most turnovers of the season (29)
• Rylee Lavender, a 5-9 junior, and Neeley Tilley-Bedick, a 5-8 sophomore, each had 13 points. Bedick added three rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Lavender averages 13.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in 2022-23
• SAC coaches predicted Southwestern Assemblies of God to finish ninth in the preseason league poll
MEET THE COACHES
Kris Seigenthaler (first year at OCU)
• Kris Seigenthaler assumed the OCU head-coaching job after spending the last four years at Loyola (La.) as an assistant coach. Loyola made four national-tournament appearances with four 20-win seasons and twice sweeping the Southern States Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles
• Seigenthaler has had coaching stops as an assistant at Auburn University at Montgomery (Ala.), Faulkner (Ala.) and Shorter (Ga.). While at Auburn Montgomery, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association included Seigenthaler among its rising stars in the coaching profession on the Thirty Under 30 list.
• Seigenthaler began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Shorter following a playing career at the University of Montevallo (Ala.)
Michael Sons (15-36, third season with SAGU)
• Career spans 25 years mainly in the Christian school environment; he came to SAGU having had a long and successful career as a high school and AAU coach
• While coaching in four different states, Sons has amassed over 520 wins at the high school level, received a State Coach of the Year award, Region Coach of the Year award and numerous District Coach of the Year accolades
ON THE AIR
• Oklahoma City University athletics provides live and on-demand audio and video of its contests on OCU's BlueFrame platform. Cost to watch OCU athletics live is $4.99 per game, while there is a women's basketball season pass available for $44
• Andrew Himes calls the action. Himes enters his 12th season as the voice of the Stars and has been broadcasting OCU basketball for 15 years starting on color commentary as an OCU student
• OCU has partnered with BlueFrame Technology to create the OCU Sports Network. To watch live video, fans can find the Stars' BlueFrame platform over the web on the SAC Network along with streaming apps for mobile devices (iOS and Android) and televisions including Amazon Fire Tablet, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. The app can be found and installed by searching for the SAC Network
