The Lowdown: No. 18 Langston University @ (RV) Mid-America Christian University
Time: Nov. 19 @ 6 p.m.
Location: Gaulke Activity Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
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Live Stats:
The Dish on the Lady Evangels: The Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels enter tonight's matchup against No. 18-ranked Langston University with a 2-1 overall record. Following a season-opening loss to No. 9-ranked Tabor College (NAIA D-II), the Lady Evangels have ran off two consecutive victories, most recently a 72-65 win at Bethel (Kan.).
Alliyah Spatafora had a solid all-around game of 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the win at Bethel, with Lindsey Mann scoring 17 points. Kelli Tolar, who was recently named the NCCAA Player of the Week, recorded 12 points and Tierra Brown added 10. Jamie Lamb grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for the Lady Evangels.
Tolar is leading the Lady Evangels this season with 19.3 ppg, followed by Brown with 13.7 ppg and a team-high seven rebounds per game. Sarai Rodriguez and Lindsey Mann are tied for third scoring with 9.0 ppg, with Rodriguez dishing out a team-high 16 assists.
The Dish on the Lions: The No. 18-ranked Langston University Lions, out of the Red River Conference, are 2-1 on the season, having played all three games thus far against teams from the Sooner Athletic Conference. The Lions started the year with an 85-48 win over No. 7-ranked Oklahoma City University and then defeated St. Gregory's University 100-48. Langston is coming off of a 65-63 setback at OCU Tuesday night (Nov. 17).
Alexus Johnson is leading the Lions in points (28.0 ppg), rebounds (6.0) and assists (9) this season. The Lions are also getting double-figure scoring from Che'Ron Lewis (17.7 ppg) and T'Keya Mason (14.3 ppg).
The Series: This is the first meeting between the two schools since MACU joined the NAIA in 2007.
The Coaches:
Seth Froese enters his first season as head coach of the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball program.
Froese is no stranger to the squad, having served the past two seasons as assistant coach under former head coach and current MACU Athletic Director Marcus Moeller.
Under Moeller, Froese has helped the Lady Evangels record consecutive winning seasons for the first time since joining the NAIA in 2007.
In his first season on the staff, Froese helped the Lady Evangels achieve program-bests in overall victories (18) and conference wins (11) in the competitive Sooner Athletic Conference.
Froese has brought extensive coaching experience to the program that dates back to his days as a student in the late 1990s at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan.
During the 2012-13 season, Froese coached at Edmond North High School as the assistant boys' varsity coach. The Huskies posted their first winning season in five years, going 14-11 and advancing to the 6A Area tournament before losing to state semifinalist Putnam City in overtime. Edmond North was also one of only two teams to beat 6A state champion Edmond Memorial.
Froese served as an assistant coach at NAIA Division I and transitional NCAA Division II California Baptist University, in Riverside, CA, from the 06-07 season through the 2010-11 season. During his time at California Baptist, the Lancers advanced twice to the NAIA Division I National Tournament. In the 07-08 season, they advanced to the "Sweet 16" where they lost to eventual national champion Oklahoma City University. The Lancers also enjoyed their first national #1 ranking during the 08-09 season and competed against NCAA Division I programs, UCLA and Seton Hall.
Froese worked as an assistant coach at NAIA Division II Tabor during the 2005-06 campaign in which the Blue Jays finished 15-15 overall and advanced to the championship game of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) Postseason Tournament as the sixth seed. That was Froese's second stint at Tabor as he also served as the assistant women's coach from 1998-2000.
Prior to that, Froese served as a scout for both the California Baptist men's and women's basketball programs during the 2004-05 seasons. The Lancer men advanced to the "Sweet 16" of the NAIA Tournament.
Froese also has experience in the high school ranks. From 2001-03, he served as an assistant varsity boys' basketball coach while teaching at Owasso (Okla.) High School. He spent the 2000-01 season as the head varsity girls' basketball coach at Mission Valley High School in Eskridge, Kan.
In addition to his coaching experience, Froese also served as camp coach at the Roy Williams Basketball Camp at the University of Kansas in 2001.
Froese graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology from Tabor in December 1999 and was a dean's scholar. While a student, he served as student assistant coach for the 1997-98 men's basketball squad. The Blue Jays won the KCAC title.
He also earned his master's in kinesiology with an emphasis in sports management in May 2005 from California Baptist. While working on that, he served an internship in NCAA compliance at the University of California-Riverside.
Froese and his wife, Liberty live in Edmond and have three sons, Noah (12), Kannon (9) and Rayph (7).
Cheryl Miller is in her second season as head coach of the Langston University women's basketball program after leading the team to a 28-4 record and an NAIA National Tournament appearance in her first year at the helm. A 1995 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Miller was the head coach at the University of Southern California from 1993-95 and then the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury from 1997-2000. She has also been a broadcaster and commentator for several TV networks, including NBA basketball on TNT.
Up Next: The Lady Evangels will next face another NAIA Top 25 squad when they play at No. 12-ranked Cumberland University (Tenn.) Saturday afternoon (Nov. 21) at 4 p.m.
