The Lowdown: Texas Wesleyan University @ Mid-America Christian University
Time: Jan. 30 @ 3 p.m.
Location: Gaulke Activity Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
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The Dish on the Lady Evangels: The Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels pulled out their second straight victory by outscoring the Bacone College Lady Warriors 34-21 in the fourth quarter for an 86-77 Thursday evening (Jan. 28).
The Lady Evangels entered the final period down 56-52 and trailed by three early in the period when Kelli Tolar scored the next seven points to give MACU a four-point lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Following three straight by the Lady Warriors that cut the lead to one, Alliyah Spatafora keyed a 13-0 burst with two threes and eight points that gave the Lady Evangels a commanding 75-61 lead with 5:04 remaining.
MACU then extended the lead to 16 on two occasions and never allowed the Lady Warriors within single-digits until the final margin. The win moves the Lady Evangels to 7-9 overall and an even 4-4 in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
Spatafora led the Lady Evangels with a career-best 24 points, while Tolar also scored 24 following her record-setting 43 point output in the win at USAO on Tuesday (Jan. 26). D'Shala Culberson recorded a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds and Hines also scored a career-high 12 points. Lindsey Mann added 11 points for MACU along with a team-high six assists.
The Lady Evangels are now 8-9 overall and are tied for fourth in the Sooner Athletic Conference at 5-4 in the league.
Tolar leads the Lady Evangels with 22.0 ppg and has hit a team-high 56 threes. Sarai Rodriguez is second in scoring with 17.1 ppg and has dished out a team-high 61 assists on the season. Culberson has a team-best 8.5 rebounds per game.
The Lady Evangels are all over the map in the NAIA national rankings, ranking second in threes per game (8.9) and sixth in both three-point field-goal percentage (.376) and assists per game (17.1). MACU is also seventh in defensive rebounds per game (30).
Individually, Tolar is first in the NAIA in threes per game (3.5) and second in points per game (22.0).
The Dish on the Lady Rams: The Texas Wesleyan University Lady Rams have lost five straight and are 7-12 overall on the season and 2-7 in the SAC.
Katelynn Threats leads the Lady Rams with 17.2 ppg and also has 9.2 rebounds per game. Onyesonam Nolisa is second with 15.2 ppg, along with a team-high 11.2 rpg. Leila Jdily-Ezzad has recorded a team-best 82 assists this season.
Threats is sixth in the NAIA in defensive rebounds per game (6.5) and ninth in total rebounds per game (9.2). Nolisa is eighth in the NAIA in total blocks (41).
The Series: The Lady Evangels won 81-80 earlier this season (Dec. 5) at TWU after sweeping the two meetings last year. The Lady Evangels have won five straight overall in the series and are 5-1 vs. the Lady Rams since joining the NAIA.
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 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).
Bill Franey is in his fifth season as head of the Texas Wesleyan University Lady Rams. Franey came to TWU in 2009 as an assistant coach and was named interim head coach in 2011. He was then named head coach in October of the same year. Franey has over 36 years of coaching experience at the high school and college levels.
Up Next: The Lady Evangels will play at No. 14-ranked Oklahoma City University Thursday evening (Feb. 4) at 6 p.m. MACU gave the Stars all it could handle much of the way in the first meeting before falling 81-73 (Jan. 14).
