OKLAHOMA CITY -- Fittingly on Senior Day, it was the two seniors that led the Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels to an 85-68 victory over the Southwestern Christian University Lady Eagles in Sooner Athletic Conference action today (Feb. 21) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
Senior guard Ashlee Ferguson led all scorers with 26 points, while senior center Alexia Kelley had 17 points, nine rebounds and a game-high five blocks.
The opening half was close throughout until the Lady Evangels closed with 11 straight points that turned a three-point deficit into a 40-32 lead at the break.
The Lady Evangels really tightened up defensively, holding the Lady Eagles scoreless over the final 6:13 of the period.
The Lady Evangels maintained their distance in the second half, allowing the Lady Eagles only within four on two occasions.
It was then that the Lady Evangels started to gain some separation, as a three by Ashlee Ferguson and a bucket from Alexia Kelley finished off a 9-2 spurt that made it 64-53 at the 9:09 mark.
Leading 71-62, the Lady Evangels put it away with another 9-2 push to take their biggest lead of the game to that point of 80-64 with 2:56 left.
In addition to Ferguson and Kelley's output, Felicia Foster scored 13 along with a career-high 10 rebounds, with D'Shala Culberson also recording 10 boards and a game-high seven assists. Alliyah Spatafora dished out six dimes for the Lady Evangels (15-10, 8-8 SAC).
Kim Hayes scored 19 to lead the Lady Eagles (11-17, 7-9 SAC) and Grace Hadley scored 13 with a team-high nine boards.
The Lady Evangels also flexed their muscle defensively and on the glass, limiting SCU to only 29.7 percent (11-of-37) in the first half and 30.6 percent (22-of-72) for the game. MACU out-rebounded the Lady Eagles by a whopping 57-42 overall.
The Lady Evangels will now hit the road for the final two games of the 2014-15 regular season, starting next Thursday evening (Feb. 26) at Texas Wesleyan University. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. in Ft. Worth, Texas.
