The Lowdown: Bacone College @ Mid-America Christian University
Time: Jan. 28 @ 6 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' 79-70 victory at USAO on Tuesday night (Jan. 26) was a historic one, with Kelli Tolar scoring a school-record 43 points and Alliyah Spatafora dishing out 12 assists, the most dimes as an NAIA school.
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 point's 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 tied Ferguson's overall school record.
Spatafora also equaled her personal season-high with 18 points, along with seven rebounds. It was wasn't just Tolar and Spatafora diving into the record book, as Jamie Lamb blocked a career-high five shots, which tied for the third most swats for the Lady Evangels since joining the NAIA.
The win moves the Lady Evangels to 7-9 overall and an even 4-4 in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
Tolar leads the Lady Evangels with 21.9 ppg and has hit a team-high 53 threes. Sarai Rodriguez is second in scoring with 17.1 ppg and has dished out a team-high 61 assists on the season. D'Shala Culberson has a team-best 8.4 rebounds per game.
The Lady Evangels are all over the map in the NAIA national rankings, ranking third in threes per game (8.8) and fourth in three-point field-goal percentage (.380). MACU is also sixth in assists per game (16.9).
Individually, Tolar is first in the NAIA in threes per game (3.5) and second in points per game (21.9).
The Dish on the Lady Warriors: The Bacone College Lady Warriors are currently 6-11 overall and 2-6 in the SAC. The Lady Warriors have lost six of their last seven games, with the lone win coming 76-74 at USAO on Jan. 16.
Jasmine Flanagan leads Bacone in scoring (16.1 ppg) and assists (67) this season. Ashley Barry-Wallace is second at 14.5 ppg, while Kim Scott is averaging 12.9 ppg with a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game.
As a team, the Lady Warriors are ninth in the NAIA in steals per game (11.8).
The Series: The Lady Evangels have won both meetings with SAC newcomer Bacone College, with both games coming in the 2008-09 season. MACU won 70-52 at Bacone and then 94-73 at home.
The Coaches:
Seth Froese is in 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).
The Bacone College Lady Warriors are under the direction of head coach Josh Nichols.
Up Next: The Lady Evangels will remain at home and host Texas Wesleyan University Saturday afternoon (Jan. 30) at 3 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
