OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels knocked down a whopping 14 shots from the perimeter in a 79-68 victory over the Texas Wesleyan University Lady Rams for their third straight win Saturday afternoon (Feb. 1) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
Trailing by four at the half, the Lady Evangels exploded for 44 points in the second half, including 9-of-15 from three-point range.
It was a 46-44 deficit when the Lady Evangels caught fire from beyond the arc as Cheyenne Been, Ashlee Ferguson and Maclayn Massey each hit two threes to fuel a 22-6 run for a 66-52 advantage with seven minutes remaining.
After Toieasha Cooper scored to make it a 12-point game, Alliyah Spatafora connected from three-point distance and then hit a layup to cap a 9-3 spurt and stretch the lead to the Lady Evangels' biggest of the game at 75-57.
The Lady Rams scored the next seven points, including five from Cooper to trim the lead to 11, but buckets from Been and Ferguson put it away.
The first half was a game of spurts, with the Lady Rams breaking out on top early by outscoring the Lady Evangels 10-2 during the first five minutes of the game behind six points from Cooper.
The Lady Evangels' responded with a three-point barrage as Ashlee Ferguson nailed two treys and Massey and Been each hit one from three-point distance to spark a 15-7 run that tied the game at 17-17.
A three-point play by Kelsie Dutton then put the Lady Evangels in front and another three by Been made it 23-19 at the 9:34 mark.
MACU was still on top 27-25 when Liz Handy scored five points of a 10-0 burst over the next three minutes to again give the Lady Rams an eight-point lead of 35-27.
The Lady Evangels crawled back within four at the break as Massey, Lauren McKinney and Been each converted two at the charity stripe to help cut the deficit to 39-35.
Ferguson led the way for the Lady Evangels with 21 points and nailed 5-of-7 from the perimeter. Been scored 18 and hit four threes, while Massey added 11 and nailed all three of her attempts from beyond the arc. McKinney had a game-high 13 rebounds and Spatafora dished out a game-high seven assists.
Cooper led all scorers with 25 points and also had 12 boards to lead the Lady Rams. Amy Moody added 10 points along with five assists, with Handy also recording five dimes.
The rebounds were even at 40-40, but the Lady Evangels held a 19-17 edge on the offensive glass.
The Lady Evangels' three-point performance was nearly historic, falling just two short of the school record for threes in a game and Ferguson was only one trey shy of the individual single-game mark.
The Lady Evangels will next host No. 5-ranked Oklahoma Baptist University Lady Bison on Tuesday evening (Feb. 5) at 6 p.m.
