The Lowdown: Mid-America Christian University @ St. Gregory's University
Time: Saturday (Feb. 22) @ 3 p.m.
Location: Shawnee, Okla.
Live Stats
The Dish on the Lady Evangels: The Mid-America Christian University Evangels extended their winning streak to three games with a 60-55 upset of the No. 16-ranked John Brown University Golden Eagles Thursday evening (Feb. 20). The victory is the highest-ranked opponent the Lady Evangels have beaten since becoming an NAIA school in 2007. The Lady Evangels sit in fifth place in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a 10-7 league record along with a 16-10 overall mark.
Lauren McKinney paced the Lady Evangels with 17 points and eight rebounds, with Ashlee Ferguson chipping in with 15. Maclayn Massey added 11 points and Alliyah Spatafora had a solid all-around game by tying her career-highs in both assists (7) and rebounds (6).
Ashlee Ferguson is leading the Lady Evangels this season with 15.0 ppg, while Lauren McKinney is scoring 10.9 ppg and leads the Lady Evangels with 8.3 rebounds per game. Cheyenne Been is also averaging double-figure scoring at 10.5 ppg. Alliyah Spatafora has dished out a team-high 64 assists on the season.
The Dish on the Cavaliers: The St. Gregory's University Cavaliers enter tomorrow's contest saddled with an 11-game losing streak, last falling 93-63 at No. 4-ranked Oklahoma Baptist University Thursday evening (Feb. 20). The Cavaliers are currently 2-21 overall and 1-16 in the SAC.
Stacy Lee leads the Cavaliers with 11.8 points per game and 109 assists this season. Tori Huff is second in scoring at 11.2 ppg and Taylor Koelsch has a team-high 4.7 rebounds per game.
The Series: The Lady Evangels have gotten the best of the Cavaliers since joining the NAIA, winning the first eight meetings between the two schools and now 10 of 12 overall after winning 84-65 at home over SGU in this season's first outing.
The Coaches:
Marcus Moeller is in his first season as the head women's basketball coach after serving as assistant coach for the past two years. He has also served as the Assistant Athletic Director at MACU for the past year. Moeller has been effective in his debut season, already leading the Lady Evangels to their most conference victories (10) since joining the NAIA in 2007.
Prior to arriving at MACU, Moeller after served three years as an assistant coach at Missouri Southern State University under the tutorship of head coach Maryann Mitts. In those three seasons, Moeller helped MSSU compile an overall combined record of 51-33 and qualify for three MIAA conference tournaments.
He assisted in all areas of the MSSU program including recruiting, scouting, practice and gameday preparations, and academic success.
Before coaching at MSSU, Moeller had a successful playing career at Ozark Christian College in Joplin where he played in all 147 games over a four-year span. Moeller, a two-year captain, averaged eight points and five assists while helping lead the Ambassadors to a 24-16 record his senior season.
Moeller earned a three-year Associate's degree in Christian Education from Ozark Christian College in 2008 and a BS in General Studies from Missouri Southern in 2010.
Josiah White is in his first season at the helm of St. Gregory's University. Prior to arriving at SGU, White served three years as an assistant coach Northern Oklahoma College in Enid, Okla. White helped Northern to a record of 83-19 from 2010-13.
Up Next: The Lady Evangels will return home to face a strong challenge from No. 6-ranked Oklahoma City University next Thursday evening (Feb. 27) at 6 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center. The Lady Evangels gave OCU all it wanted on the road in the season's first meeting before falling 79-69 back on Jan. 18.
