The Lowdown: Bacone College @ Mid-America Christian University
Time: Dec. 3 @ 3 p.m.
Location: Gaulke Activity Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
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Live Stats:
The Dish on the Lady Evangels: The Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels have begun the season 8-1 for the first time since the 2013-14 season after opening up Sooner Athletic Conference play with an 81-77 victory over the Texas Wesleyan University Lady Rams Thursday evening (Dec. 1).
The Lady Evangels were in control much of the way, leading by a game-high 17 points late in the third quarter.
MACU held off the Lady Rams for the majority fourth quarter and still maintained a 10-point lead of 78-68 with 1:04 left.
That's the point where TWU made things interesting, as a score from Katelynn Threats and two treys from Alycia Louallen sparked a quick 9-1 burst and pulled the Lady Rams within two points at 79-77 with 15 seconds left.
But Mikki Flores stepped to the line and hit two crucial free throws to help the Lady Evangels hold on for the win.
Sarai Rodriguez has been the offensive catalyst for the Lady Evangels, whose 21.1 points per game leads the team and ranks second in the Sooner Athletic Conference and seventh in the NAIA. Rodriguez has already earned two National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Player of the Week awards along with one OklahomaSports.Net honor.
Rodriguez has also hit a team-high 18 threes and is second on the team with 35 assists on the season.
Flores is second in scoring with 11.7 ppg, while dishing out a conference-leading 51 assists. Her assists per game (5.6 apg) is seventh in the NAIA.
Also scoring in double-figures this season for the Lady Evangels is Jamie Lamb (11.2 ppg) and Nevada Denton (10.1 ppg).
As a unit, the Lady Evangels are first in the NAIA in defensive rebounds per game (35.0) and second in total rebounding (50.7). MACU also ranks third in the NAIA in scoring offense per game (88.4) and seventh in total rebound margin (11.2).
The Dish on the Lady Warriors: The Bacone College Lady Warriors are 2-4 on the season, but opened up conference play with a 79-60 win over St. Gregory's University Thursday evening (Dec. 1).
Ashley Barry-Wallace is leading the Lady Warriors in both points (13.2 ppg) and rebounds (5.0). Cierra Miles is second in scoring with 11.5 ppg), followed by Bailey Scarberry at 10.7 ppg. Terri Baker leads Bacone with 17 assists this season.
The Lady Warriors are fifth in the NAIA in turnover margin (9.5), seventh in steals per game (13.1) and ninth in three-point defense (.244).
The Series: The Lady Evangels swept the series last year and have won all four meetings overall against the Lady Warriors, including both games at home.
The Coaches:
Hannah Moeller has begun her first season 8-1 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.
The Bacone College Lady Warriors are under the direction of head coach Josh Nichols, who is in his second season at the helm.
Up Next: The Lady Evangels will play at Central Christian College (Kan.) Monday evening (Dec. 5) at 5 pm in McPherson, Kan. MACU will then return home and host No. 6-ranked (NAIA D-II) College of the Ozarks next Thursday (Dec. 8) at 6 pm.
