Waxahachie, Texas – Fighting valiantly to the end, the Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels just missed advancing to their first Sooner Athletic Conference tournament title game as the No. 17-ranked and second-seeded Oklahoma City University Stars held on for an 87-85 win today (Mar. 4) on the campus of Southwestern Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, Texas.

One day after setting the school single-game three-point mark, the Lady Evangels were firing on all cylinders again from beyond the arc, breaking the previous record again with 17 threes today.

Lindsey Mann also picked up where she left off yesterday with a carbon copy of her career game yesterday, tying her career-highs of 30 points and seven treys.

The climax came when the Lady Evangels got within 87-85 on two free throws each from Kelli Tolar and Sarai Rodriguez and after a turnover by the Stars in the final seconds, a three-point attempt at the buzzer was off that allowed the Stars to hold on.

Down 17 at the 5:17 mark of the fourth quarter and still trailing by 16 with just 3:49 left, the Lady Evangels turned to what else but the three-point line to make their charge back. 

Threes by Kelli Tolar and Mann suddenly made it a 10-point game and a free throw from Jamie Lamb brought the Lady Evangels within single-digits with 2:25 left.

With the Stars up 11 at the 1:33 mark, the Lady Evangels were undeterred and charged back within five on threes by Tolar and Rodriguez with 47 seconds remaining.

The opening half was competitive throughout, with the Lady Evangels hitting 11 of their 17 threes in the first two quarters. 

OCU led 25-24 after one period and had opened up a 41-33 edge when treys from Mann and Tolar cut the deficit to two and the Stars carried a 45-41 lead into the break.

After another three by Mann to begin the third quarter made it a one-point game, the Stars gained some breathing room by outscoring the Lady Evangels 23-10 over the remainder of the period to lead 68-54 heading into the fourth.

Playing her final games in a MACU uniform, Mann was simply terrific in this SAC tourney, scoring 30 points each game and hitting 14-of-26 from the perimeter. Tolar, another senior for MACU, scored 24 today and finished the year with the highest single-game season points per game mark (19.6 ppg) for the Lady Evangels (12-16) since joining the NAIA.

Rodriguez scored 18 and dished out a career-high tying 10 assists, while D'Shala Culberson recorded a team-best 10 rebounds.

Catherine Kruschke led the Stars (20-7) with 25 points and Markeisha Johnson produced a double-double of 15 points and 11 boards.