The Lowdown: Mid-America Christian University vs. No. 20 John Brown University
Time: Thursday (Mar. 6) at 10:45 a.m.
Location: Noble Complex @ Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, Okla.
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Live Stats
The Dish on the Lady Evangels: The Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels enter the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament as the No. 5 seed with a conference record of 11-9 and 17-12 overall. The 11 conference victories under first-year head coach Marcus Moeller are the most for the Lady Evangels since joining the NAIA.
Ashlee Ferguson is leading the Lady Evangels this season with 16.4 ppg, while Lauren McKinney is scoring 10.7 ppg and leads the Lady Evangels with 8.0 rebounds per game. Cheyenne Been is also averaging double-figure scoring at 10.2 ppg. Alliyah Spatafora has dished out a team-high 74 assists on the season.
The Dish on the Golden Eagles: The No. 20-ranked John Brown University Golden Eagles are the No. 4 seed in the SAC tourney and have won three straight after falling 60-55 to the Lady Evangels back on Feb. 20. One of those three wins was a 67-57 win over No. 6-ranked Oklahoma Baptist University. JBU is 23-6 overall and 15-5 in the SAC.
Sierra Shipley leads JBU in scoring (16.5 ppg) and rebounds (6.7 rpg), followed by Kortni Barenberg at 11.2 ppg. Kami Garrison has dished out a team-best 83 assists.
The Series: The Lady Evangels are 4-10 against the Golden Eagles since becoming an NAIA school after splitting the season series this year. MACU bested JBU 60-55 here on Feb. 20, but fell 92-66 on Jan. 23 in Siloam Springs, Ark. The Lady Evangels defeated the Golden Eagles 61-57 in the only meeting at the SAC Tournament in 2009.
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 (11) 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.
Jeff Soderquist is in his eighth season as head coach of the John Brown University women's basketball program. Soderquist is the winningest coach in program history and has guided the Golden Eagles to three appearances in the NAIA National Tournament.
Up Next: With a victory over JBU, the Lady Evangels would play Friday (Mar. 7) at 3 p.m. in the SAC semifinals against the winner of OCU/SCU/USAO.
