OKLAHOMA CITY – The Southwestern Assemblies of God University Lady Lions grabbed the lead in the first quarter and never relinquished it despite a stiff challenge from the Mid-America Christian  University Lady Evangels and won 75-68 in Sooner Athletic Conference action tonight (Jan. 21) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.

SAGU jumped on top when consecutive scores from Dy'Teesha Diggles and a three by Taylor Hill produced a 7-0 spurt that put the Lady Lions up by six and they carried a 24-19 at the end of the opening period.

The Lady Lions led the entire second quarter, building the edge to eight before settling for a 37-30 lead at the break.

After SAGU came out in the second half and stretched the lead to 14, the Lady Evangels fought back into it behind a combined 11 points from Jamie Lamb (six) and Lindsey Mann (five) and outscored the Lady Lions 18-5 from the 3:32 mark of the third quarter to the 5:17 point of the fourth.

But a three-pointer by Bethany Krock halted the spurt for SAGU and then a three-point play from Alexis McAfee capped an 8-2 run that pushed the lead back to 65-58 with 2:55 remaining.

Following two free-throws from D'Shala Culberson that brought the Lady Evangels within five, a score inside from Taylor Hill and then two freebies by Charity Page put the Lady Lions back in front by nine with 1:21 left to put it away.

Lamb led the Lady Evangels with a career-high 22 points and Mann scored 17. Culberson had 13 with a team-high eight rebounds and Alliyah Spatafora added 12 points. Tolar had a team-best five assists for MACU.

Hill paced the Lady Lions with 20 points and five assists, with Diggles scoring 13 and Page chipping in with 12 points along with a team-best eight boards.

The Lady Evangels will look to get back on the winning track at Southwestern Christian University Saturday afternoon (Jan. 23) at 3 p.m. in Bethany, Okla.