The Lowdown: No. 8 Oklahoma Baptist University @ Mid-America Christian University
Time: Saturday (Jan. 24) at 3 p.m.
Location: Gaulke Activity Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Live Video:
Live Stats:
The Dish on the Lady Evangels: The Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels won in dramatic fashion as Alliyah Spatafora hit a driving layup with seven seconds left to win 80-79 over Texas Wesleyan University last night (Jan. 22) inside the Gaulke Activity Center. Spatafora narrowly missed a triple-double with a line of 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, with the rebound total representing a career-high. Lindsey Mann continued her strong play with 17 points and six boards. Felicia Foster and Ashlee Ferguson each scored 15 points.
Ashlee Ferguson is leading the Lady Evangels with 16.4 points per game and is also tops in threes (48). Alexia Kelley is averaging a double-double of 12.5 points and 11.0 rebounds, while Alliyah Spatafora has dished out a team-high 85 assists on the season.
The Dish on the Lady Bison: The No. 8-ranked Oklahoma Baptist University Lady Bison has alternated wins and losses in their past four games after running off a nine-game winning streak. OBU is 13-3 overall and 5-2 in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
Charity Fowler leads the Lady Bison with 12.5 points per game and is tied for the team-lead with 62 assists. Elisabeth Daniels has also recorded 62 assists for OBU. McKenzie Cooper is second in scoring with 11.9 ppg, while Raquel Dudzevich is averaging 10.6 ppg along with a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game.
The Series: The Lady Evangels have dropped 14 of 15 meetings with OBU since joining the NAIA, with the lone victory coming during the 2010-11 season. The Lady Bison won both meetings last year, but just slipped by 65-64 last year in the second meeting at MACU when OBU entered the game as the No. 4-ranked squad in the NAIA.
The Coaches:
Marcus Moeller is in his second season as the head women's basketball coach after serving as assistant coach for the past two seasons. He has also served as the Assistant Athletic Director at MACU for the past two years. Moeller has a solid 29-19 record to this point at the helm.
In his first year guiding the program, Moeller guided the Lady Evangels to new heights, leading MACU its most wins (18) since joining the NAIA and also a program-best 11 victories in the rugged Sooner Athletic Conference.
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.
He recently married Hannah Owen, former MACU assistant basketball coach during the 2010-11 season.
Casi Bays is in her second season at the helm of Oklahoma Baptist University after serving two seasons as an assistant coach. Before coming to OBU, Bays was the head coach at Newcastle (Okla.) High School and was a two-time Coach of the Year.
Up Next: The Lady Evangels will remain at home and host USAO next Thursday night (Jan. 29) at 6 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
