The Lowdown: No. 6 (NAIA D-II) College of the Ozarks @ Mid-America Christian University
Time: Dec. 8 @ 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 moved to 10-1 for the first time as an NAIA program with a 79-60 victory at Central Christian College Monday evening (Dec. 5) in McPherson, Kan.
The Lady Evangels pulled down 68 rebounds, their most since the 2014-15 season, in the win at Central Christian.
Fueling the big performance on the boards was Brittany Thompson, who pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds, just three shy of the school's single-game mark as an NAIA school.
That record is held by D'Shala Powell, who contributed 11 boards along with 18 points for a double-double.
Getting in on the rebounding act was also guard Mikki Flores. Flores just missed a triple-double after producing a career-best 10 boards, 10 assists and scoring eight points.
The outcome was never in doubt tonight, as the Lady Evangels shook off an early 7-3 deficit by outscoring the Tigers 19-3 over the final 6:36 of the first quarter and the opening 46 seconds of the second period.
Sarai Rodriguez has been the offensive catalyst for the Lady Evangels, whose 20.3 points per game leads the team and ranks second in the Sooner Athletic Conference and ninth 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 25 threes and is second on the team with 41 assists on the season.
Flores is second in scoring with 11.4 ppg, while dishing out a conference-leading 68 assists. Her assists per game (6.2 apg) is second in the SAC and sixth in the NAIA.
Thompson leads the Lady Evangels in rebounding with 8.1 boards per game.
As a unit, the Lady Evangels are first in the NAIA in defensive rebounds per game (34.6) and second in total rebounding (50.9). MACU also ranks third in the NAIA in scoring offense per game (86.1), fourth in total rebound margin (12.2) and eighth in offensive rebounds per game (16.2).
The Dish on the Lady Bobcats: The College of the Ozarks Lady Bobcats are 10-2 this season and ranked sixth in the latest NAIA D-II Coaches' poll. The Lady Bobcats are coming off an 83-63 loss at Morningside (Iowa) that halted a five-game winning streak.
College of the Ozarks has played four games this season against Sooner Athletic Conference opponents, with the only loss in those outings coming to ninth-ranked Oklahoma City University on a neutral floor. The Lady Bobcats swept a pair of meetings with No. 20-ranked John Brown University and have a home win over USAO.
The Lady Bobcats also handed No. 8-ranked Lyon University (Ark.) their only loss of the season on the road in overtime (11-1-16).
Cassidy Johnson leads the Lady Bobcats this season with 14.7 ppg, while Kelsie Cleeton is second in scoring with 12.7 ppg along with a team-best 10.4 rebounds per game. Lakin Simmerman is averaging 12.4 ppg this season and Hannah Wisdom is also scoring in double-figures with 10.3 ppg and has recorded a team-high 39 assists on the season.
Cleeton is seventh in NAIA D-II in defensive rebounds per game (7.4) and her 10.4 rebounds rank eighth.
The Series: The Lady Evangels have dropped both games vs. College of the Ozarks since joining the NAIA. MACU fell 89-70 last year on the road and also lost at home to the Lady Bobcats in the 2008-09 season.
NCCAA Showdown: Tonight's matchup will pit two of the top teams in the latest National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) rankings. The Lady Evangels are currently the top-ranked team in the NCCAA, while the Lady Bobcats come in third.
The Coaches:
Hannah Moeller has begun her first season 10-1 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.
Becky Vest is in her fourth year as head coach of the College of the Ozarks Lady Bobcats. Vest served as an assistant coach for 11 years prior to taking over the head coaching duties. She has guided the Lady Bobcats to the NAIA D-II National Tournament in each of her three seasons at the helm, including a 10-0 conference record last year in their first season as an independent program. Vest also led COFO to a Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season championship in the final year of the league in the 2014-15 season.
Up Next: The Lady Evangels will play an exhibition contest Saturday afternoon (Dec. 10) at the University of Central Oklahoma, an NCAA D-II school in Edmond, Okla. Tip-off is set for 1:30 pm.
