Chickasha, Okla. -- Kelli Tolar poured in a school record 43 points along with a career-high tying 11 rebounds to lead the Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels to a 79-70 win at the University of Science of Arts and Oklahoma Drovers tonight (Jan. 26) in Chickasha, Okla. Alliyah Spatafora also dished out a career-high 12 assists, the most dimes in school history as an NAIA school.
Tolar scored 25 of her points in the opening half to help the Lady Evangels take charge early and lead 47-27 at the break.
Leading 61-44 at the end of three quarters, the San Antonio, Texas native scored the Lady Evangels' first nine points of the fourth and MACU was up 70-52 with 7:08 remaining.
The Drovers then made things interesting as Jordan Williams scored seven points to spark a 13-1 spurt during the next five minutes to come within 71-65.
But layups from Tolar and Spatafora pushed the lead back to double-figures and Lindsey Mann hit four free-throws over the final 33 seconds to seal the victory.
After the Drovers scored the first bucket of the game, Tolar hit a jumper and Spatafora scored eight straight points for an early 10-2 lead. Tolar then capped the 15-0 run with a three and the Lady Evangels went on to a 27-14 edge after the opening period.
Tolar's 43 points came on 16-of-33 overall from the field, 7-of-17 from the perimeter and 4-of-5 at the charity stripe. Her points output nips the old mark set by Ashlee Ferguson, who scored 42 points in a win at John Brown University last season (2/2/15). Also, Tolar's 16 field-goals made tie Ferguson's overall school record.
Spatafora also tied her personal season-high with 18 points along with seven rebounds. Defensively, Jamie Lamb blocked a career-high five shots, tied for the third most swats for the Lady Evangels since joining the NAIA.
Kiah Cummings and Mahogany Nelms each led the Drovers with 14 points, while Ilze Teilane had a game-high 12 boards.
The Lady Evangels will next return home and host Bacone College Thursday evening (Jan. 28) at 6 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
