Bethany, Okla. -- The Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels staged a furious late rally but couldn't get over the hump in an 85-82 setback today (Jan. 17) at the Southwestern Christian University Lady Eagles at Pickens-Springer Gymnasium in Bethany, Okla.
MACU got down by as much as 13 in the second half and still trailed 81-69 at the 3:12 mark before making things extremely interesting down the stretch.
An offensive putback by Alexia Kelley began the rally and then a jumper and a three by Lindsey Mann cut the lead to five.
Following a score by Eliora Johnson with 1:29 left that stretched the lead back to seven, Felicia Foster and Mann each connected from long range to suddenly make it a one-point game with 31 seconds left.
After Grace Hadley made two free throws for SCU, the Lady Evangels had one final opportunity to tie the score.
But a heavily contested three by Mann just barely bounced off the rim as the Lady Eagles held on for the win.
MACU was down 10 midway through the first half when three straight treys from Ashlee Ferguson capped a 20-4 burst that put the Lady Evangels up 37-31 with 3:36 left in the half.
Hadley then went to work for the Lady Eagles and scored seven points of a 9-3 run to finish the half and send the game into a 40-40 gridlock at the break.
Ferguson scored a team-high 21 points for the Lady Evangels (10-5, 3-3 SAC), while Kelley registered her 10th double-double of the season with 14 points along with a game-high 10 rebounds. Mann added 13 points, all in the second half and Foster had 10 points and a game-high seven assists.
Hadley paced five Lady Eagles (6-12, 2-4 SAC) in double-figure scoring with 21 points. Hadley and Maranda Janz each pulled down a team-high eight boards for SCU.
The Lady Evangels out-shot the Lady Eagles 45.6 percent (31-of-68) to 43.8 percent (28-of-64) and held a 48-30 edge on the glass, but were hurt by 20 turnovers and only a 30 percent (6-of-20) shooting clip at the free-throw line.
The Lady Evangels will next return home and face Texas Wesleyan University next Thursday evening (Jan. 22) at 6 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
