Siloam Springs, Ark. – The Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels rallied from 15 down and defeated the John Brown University Golden Eagles 68-65 in Sooner Athletic Conference action tonight (Feb. 18) in Siloam Springs, Ark.

The dramatic contest served as a worthy sequel to the first matchup this season (Jan. 7) between the two schools that saw the Lady Evangels pull out a thrilling 98-90 victory in double-overtime.

The Lady Evangels trailed 56-41 heading into the fourth quarter, but made their move by outscoring the Golden Eagles 17-3 during the opening 4:34 of the period to force a 58-58 gridlock.

Following five straight points by JBU, a three by Kelli Tolar ignited a run of eight straight for the Lady Evangels that was capped with a three from Sarai Rodriguez that put MACU in front to stay, 66-63 with 1:54 remaining.

After Brooke Barker scored with 11 seconds remaining for the Golden Eagles' first field-goal since the 4:38 mark, Tolar made one free throw and the Lady Evangels forced a three-point miss as time expired to hang on for the victory.

The game featured wild swings each quarter, with the Golden Eagles leading 17-10 after one period only to have the Lady Evangels win the second period 22-14 for a 32-31 lead at the break.

After the Golden Eagles took the third stanza 25-9, the Lady Evangels answered by outscoring JBU 27-9 in the decisive fourth quarter.

Tolar scored a team-high 23 points for the Lady Evangels and nailed six-of-14 from three-point distance. Rodriguez added 22 points with a game-high six assists and career-best five steals. Jamie Lamb led the Lady Evangels with a career-high 12 rebounds and D'Shala Culberson added 11 boards.

Barker paced the Golden Eagles with 18 points, while Jana Schammel and Kodee Powell each chipped in with 12 points.

The Lady Evangels will next celebrate Senior Day Saturday afternoon (Feb. 20) by hosting Southwestern Christian University at 3 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.