OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels got 28 points and 15 rebounds from Kourtni Williams en route to a 71-64 victory over the St. Gregory's University Cavaliers in Sooner Athletic Conference action Thursday evening (Jan. 17) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
The game went back and forth the entire night with seven ties and 15 lead changes through the first 26 minutes of the contest.
With the Lady Evangels trailing 41-39, Kelsie Dutton finally gave the Lady Evangels the lead for good with a three-point play at the 13:39 mark of the second half.
Dutton then scored again and Parris Price kept the surge going with seven straight to pull the Lady Evangels out to a 51-42 lead with 10:12 remaining.
After the Cavaliers pulled to within five on a pair of free throws from Leticia Silva, consecutive scores by Sabrina McKinney and three free throws from Williams fueled an 8-1 push that gave the Lady Evangels their biggest lead of the game at 62-50 with 3:36 left.
SGU still refused to go quietly as buckets from Porsche Young and Tess Robbins trimmed the deficit to just four at 67-63 with 23 seconds left.
But Emilie Schirmer found Price with a baseball pass down the floor for a layup to extend a six-point edge.
A defensive stop and two more free throws by Williams then closed out the Cavaliers.
The opening half was a match of spurts that featured four ties and nine lead changes. Silva scored four straight points to snap a 28-28 gridlock for the Cavaliers but Price followed that with a three that brought the Lady Evangels to within 32-31 at the break.
Williams shot 10-of-24 from the floor and her 15 rebounds are tied for second all-time since the Lady Evangels joined the NAIA. Price also reached double-figures with 15 points, while McKinney and Schirmer each recorded a team-high four assists. Dutton scored a career-best eight points and April Williams recorded four thefts.
Silva paced the Cavaliers with 18 points and Young scored 12 with a team-best eight boards.
The Lady Evangels were out-rebounded 47-38 overall but made up for it by forcing 27 turnovers.
MACU will next hit the road again and play at John Brown University on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 19) at 3 p.m. in Siloam Springs, Ark.
