The Lowdown: Kansas Wesleyan University @ Mid-America Christian University
Time: Nov. 9 @ 5 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 enter tonight's game at 4-0 following a stifling defensive performance throughout a 91-38 victory over the Central Christian College Tigers on Monday evening (Nov. 7).
The 38 points allowed and 53-point margin of victory are the best for the Lady Evangels since an 85-17 win over Dallas Christian back on Nov. 14, 2011.
Rodriguez led the Lady Evangels in scoring for the fourth time this season with 23 points on 8-of-14 overall from the field, 3-of-6 from three-point distance and a perfect 4-of-4 at the charity stripe. Nevada Denton scored 11 and Jaidan Alley had a career-high 10 points.
Brittany Thompson had a game-high 10 rebounds for the Lady Evangels, while Mikki Flores dished out a career-best 11 assists.
The Lady Evangels left their mark defensively, particularly in the first half when they limited the Tigers to only 10.7 percent (3-of-28) shooting and then 19.4 percent (13-of-67) for the game.
MACU also dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Tigers 64-42 overall. The 64 rebounds are the third most for the Lady Evangels as an NAIA program, with both higher occurrences coming in the 2014-15 season.
Sarai Rodriguez has been the offensive catalyst for the Lady Evangels, leading the team in scoring with 25.5 points per game. Yesterday (Nov. 8), Rodriguez earned her second straight National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Player of the Week award.
Jamie Lamb is second in scoring with 13.0 ppg, followed by Denton at 11.5 ppg and Tamiyjah Smith with 11.0 ppg. Thompson leads the Lady Evangels with 7.5 rebounds per game, while Flores has dished out a team-best 27 assists thus far this season.
The Dish on the Coyotes: The Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes, an NAIA D-II team out of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, are 2-2 on the season. The Coyotes have won two straight, including a 78-65 win over Sooner Athletic Conference member Bacone College. In their second game of the season, the Coyotes nearly upset No. 4-ranked Morningside College before eventually falling 74-67.
Jenna Farris leads the Coyotes in scoring with 17.8 ppg, followed by Karlie Steinle at 13 ppg. Steinle also leads KWU with 5.5 rpg, with Brylee New recording a team-best nine assists.
The Series: This will be the first meeting between the Lady Evangels and Kansas Wesleyan.
Strong Out of the Gate: The Lady Evangels are currently 4-0 under new head coach Hannah Moeller, and a win tonight would equal the program's best-ever start to a season since becoming an NAIA school. MACU also started 5-0 to begin the 2011-12 season.
The Coaches:
Hannah Moeller has begun her first season 4-0 as head coach of the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball program.
Moeller is no stranger to MACU; she served as the assistant women's basketball coach during the 2010-2011 season for current Yale University assistant coach Roman Owen.
Moeller takes over the program after a four-year tenure at Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College, now Randall University. During her time at Hillsdale, Moeller was named the 2016 NCCAA National Coach of the Year, won two national championships, was twice named Southwest Regional Coach of the Year, coached nine All-American players and touted a 105-28 coaching record.
In her four seasons working with Hillsdale Free Will Baptist, Moeller accomplished the following:
2016 NCCAA National Coach of the Year
2016 NCCAA National Runner-Up
2013, 2014 ACCA National Champions
2015 ACCA National Runner-Up
2013 and 2016 NCCAA Southwest Region Coach of the Year
2016 season spent 14 weeks ranked #1 in the country
In addition, Moeller was responsible for the recruitment and development of the following student-athletes:
2016 NCCAA/ACCA National Player of the Year
Five NCCAA All-Americans, three for repeating years
Nine ACCA All-Americans, five for repeating years
Three NCCAA Southwest Region Most Valuable Players
Nine NCCAA All-Southwest Region players
14 NCCAA/ACCA Scholar Athletes
Moeller served as the associate head coach at Hillsdale Free Will Baptist during the 2011-2012 and helped lead the Lady Saints to the 2012 ACCA National Championship. Moeller is no stranger to MACU; she served as the assistant women's basketball coach during the 2010-2011 season for current Yale University assistant coach Roman Owen.
After signing to play basketball at the University of Louisiana-Monroe as a senior in high school, Moeller finished her playing career at Rogers State University where she was named the 2009 Rogers State University Female Student Athlete of the Year, a 2009 NAIA Academic All-American and the 2009 Distinguished Graduate of the Sports Management department.
Moeller holds an Associate of Arts from Southwestern Christian University and a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management from Rogers State University. Her graduate work is in physical education from the University of Central Oklahoma.
Hannah, her husband Marcus and their 10-month old son Owen reside in Oklahoma City and attend Frontline Church Downtown.
Ryan Showman is in his fifth season at the helm of the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes. Showman was an assistant coach for KWU prior to taking over duties as head coach. Showman led the Coyotes to a 20-10 record during the 2014-15 season.
Up Next: The Lady Evangels will compete in the OCU Classic on Nov. 18-19 on the campus of Oklahoma City University.
MACU will face a stern test against No. 3-ranked Our Lady of the Lake University on Nov. 18 at 6 pm, followed by a matchup with LSU-Shreveport on Nov. 19 at 1 pm. LSU-Shreveport narrowly missed out on the NAIA Top-25 preseason poll, finishing as the top vote getter.
