The Lowdown: Wayland Baptist University (RV) @ Mid-America Christian University
Time: Jan. 12 @ 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 are now 12-3 overall and 3-1 in the Sooner Athletic Conference after dominating St. Gregory's University, 89-61 last Saturday (Jan. 7).
The Lady Evangels wasted no time in taking control, beginning the game on a 10-2 spurt thanks to six quick points from Brittany Thompson.
After the Cavaliers came within three, the Lady Evangels got a three by Nevada Denton and four points each from Sarai Rodriguez and Tamiyjah Smith to close out the first period on an 11-3 run to pull out to a 30-19 lead.
Mikki Flores helped the Lady Evangels get off to the quick start with five first quarter assists.
The Lady Evangels then closed out the second quarter in much the same fashion, outscoring the Cavaliers 18-7 over the final 4:53 to take a commanding 54-33 lead at the break.
Jamie Lamb scored four points to start the surge and the Lady Evangels also got seven points from Rodriguez and five points from Jessica Fairley during that span.
The Lady Evangels never relinquished control in the second half, as the closest the Cavaliers came was 18 points at the 3:36 mark of the fourth quarter.
Rodriguez has been the offensive catalyst for the Lady Evangels, whose 20.7 points per game leads the team and ranks second in the Sooner Athletic Conference and fifth in the NAIA. Rodriguez has earned three National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Player of the Week awards along with one OklahomaSports.Net honor.
Rodriguez has also hit a team-high 35 threes and is second on the team with 61 assists on the season.
Flores is second in scoring with 11.7 ppg, while dishing out a conference-leading 93 assists. Her assists per game (6.2 apg) is second in the SAC and fourth in the NAIA.
Brittany Thompson leads the Lady Evangels in rebounding with eight rebounds per game.
As a unit, the Lady Evangels are first in the NAIA in defensive rebounds per game (34.2) and second in total rebounding (50.4). MACU also ranks third in the NAIA in scoring offense per game (84.8), fourth in total rebound margin (11.5) and ninth in offensive rebounds per game (16.2).
The Dish on the Flying Queens: The Wayland Baptist University Flying Queens, who received votes in the most recent NAIA Top 25 Coaches' poll, are riding a seven-game winning streak to check in at 12-2 overall and 3-1 in the SAC. WBU is coming off a convincing 100-72 win over No. 18-ranked John Brown University last Saturday (Jan. 7) that featured 46 points from Jade Jones, just three points shy of the school's single-game record.
Jones leads the Flying Queens in both scoring (15.2 ppg) and rebounds (9.1 rpg). Maci Merket is second in scoring with 12.4 ppg, with Deborah Van Dijk averaging 11.4 ppg. Morgan Bennett has recorded a team-high 42 assists this season.
The Flying Queens rank 10th in the NAIA in both scoring offense per game (79.2) and free-throw percentage (.737), while Merket is sixth in three-point percentage (.451) and Shawna Monreal is sixth in free-throw percentage (.860).
The Series: Wayland Baptist has enjoyed the upper hand vs. the Lady Evangels, as MACU is just 3-15 overall vs. the Flying Queens and 2-7 at home.
Offensive Showcase: Tonight's matchup with the Lady Evangels and Flying Queens will showcase two of the top offenses in the NAIA. MACU is currently third in the NAIA in scoring offense per game (84.8 ppg), while the Flying Queens are 10th (79.2 ppg).
The Coaches:
Hannah Moeller has begun her first season 12-3 as head coach of the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball program, including matching the team's best-ever 10-game start as an NAIA school at 9-1.
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.
Alesha Robertson-Ellis is in her fourth season at Wayland Baptist University and has guided the Flying Queens to the NAIA National Tournament in all three years at the helm. Last season, Robertson-Ellis earned SAC Coach of the Year honors after leading the Flying Queens to the SAC regular season and postseason tournament championships.
The Plainview, Texas native was also named the SAC Co-Coach of the Year in her first season after leading the Flying Queens to the NAIA National Tournament for just the second time in a decade. Robertson-Ellis played collegiately at Texas Tech University and recently coached for Hoop55 and Lubbock Christian High School. Robertson-Ellis also guided LCHS to the TAPPS 3A state championship in 2013.
Up Next: The Lady Evangels will begin a four-game road trip, starting Saturday afternoon (Jan. 14) at USAO. Tip-off will be at 3 pm in Chickasha, Okla.
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Catch the Evangels On the Air: All MACU men's and women's home basketball games are LIVE at the link below. Click HERE to tune in to Alex Freedman (also the voice of the OKC Dodgers) to call all the action!
