The Lowdown: (RV) Wayland Baptist University @ Mid-America Christian University
Time: Jan. 9 @ 1 p.m.
Location: Gaulke Activity Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Live Video:
Live Stats:
The Dish on the Lady Evangels: With the NCAA Men's Basketball showdown featuring the No. 2-ranked University of Oklahoma Sooners and No. 1-ranked University of Kansas Jayhawks rightfully garnering much of the nation's headlines since Monday night (Jan. 4), the Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels and No. 19-ranked John Brown University Golden Eagles did their best to match that epic outcome as the Lady Evangels somehow grinded out a 98-90 double-overtime win tonight (Jan. 7) over JBU in a thrilling Sooner Athletic Conference showdown.
All it took was 31 points and 10 rebounds from Kelli Tolar, a single-game record (as an NAIA school) 20 rebounds and 17 points from D'Shala Culberson and 21 points, eight boards and six assists from reigning NAIA, SAC and OklahomaSports.Net Player of the Week Sarai Rodriguez. The Lady Evangels also needed 13 points and another eight rebounds from Jamie Lamb to go along with 11 points and a career-high tying seven assists by Lindsey Mann.
Down by five in the first overtime session and still trailing by four with only 1:40 left, the Lady Evangels wouldn't be deterred and found a way to force another extra session on a driving layup by Rodriguez and then a critical jumper from Tolar with one second remaining that made it 84-84.
Once in the second overtime period, the Lady Evangels finally seized control when threes by Rodriguez and Mann along with scores from Tolar and Culberson fueled a 10-0 run that put MACU in front by seven at the 2:56 mark.
Kodee Powell brought JBU within four with her second trey of the second overtime session, but a basket in the paint by Culberson and then two free throws by Mann closed out the dramatic win for the Lady Evangels.
Tolar leads the Lady Evangels with 23.3 ppg and has hit a team-high 34 threes. Rodriguez is second in scoring with 17.2 ppg and has dished out a team-high 53 assists on the season. Culberson has a team-best 7.8 rebounds per game.
The Lady Evangels are all over the map in the NAIA national rankings, leading in threes per game (10.4) and three-point field-goal percentage (.433). MACU is also fourth in the nation in assists per game (17.8) as a unit, eighth in field-goal percentage (.444) and ninth in both assist/turnover ratio (1.134) and scoring offense per game (77.8).
Tolar is tops in the NAIA in threes per game (3.7) and her 23.3 ppg is second. Rodriguez ranks first in three-point field goal percentage (.522), while Mann is second from three-point distance (.500). Rodriguez is also fourth in assists per game (5.8) and eighth in free-throw percentage (.879).
The Dish on the Flying Queens: The Wayland Baptist University Flying Queens are 7-4 overall and 2-1 in the Sooner Athletic Conference after winning five of their past six games, most recently an 82-64 win over St. Gregory's University on Thursday (Jan. 7). WBU received votes in this week's NAIA Top 25 Coaches' poll after being No. 24 the previous week.
Stephanie Afunugo is pacing the Flying Queens in scoring at 12.0 ppg, with Shawna Monreal second with 11.8 ppg along with a team-high 31 assists. Jade Jones leads WBU with 7.9 rebounds per game, followed closely by Nina Sato's 7.5 rpg.
As a team, the Flying Queens rank fifth in the NAIA in free-throw percentage (.769), seventh in blocks per game (4.4) and 10th in both assists per game (16.4) and field-goal percentage (.440).
The Series: The Lady Evangels snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Flying Queens with an 84-66 win in last season's first meeting before falling 85-67 in the second meeting in Plainview, Texas. Overall, the Lady Evangels are 3-13 vs. WBU since joining the NAIA. The Lady Evangels are 2-6 against the Flying Queens at home.
Thrice as Nice: If you're a fan of good long distance shooting from beyond the arc, then you've enjoyed watching the Lady Evangels this season. MACU is tops in the NAIA in both threes per game (10.4) and three-point field-goal percentage (.433) and feature the top two three-point shooters in the country in Sarai Rodriguez (.522) and Lindsey Mann (.500). Kelli Tolar is also first in the NAIA in threes per game (3.7).
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).
Alesha Robertson-Ellis is in her third season at Wayland Baptist University and has guided the Flying Queens to the NAIA National Tournament in both of years at the helm. The Plainview, Texas native was named the SAC Co-Coach of the Year in her first season after leading the Flying Queens to the NAIA National Tournament for just the second time in a decade. Robertson played collegiately at Texas Tech University and recently coached for Hoop55 and Lubbock Christian High School. Robertson guided LCHS to the TAPPS 3A state championship in 2013.
Up Next: The Lady Evangels will wrap up their three-game homestand Thursday night against No. 15-ranked Oklahoma City University. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
