OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team took to the floor at the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday afternoon for the second time in less than 24 hours, and as one might expect, the offense struggled at times in the game. Good thing for the Lady Evangels they had a defense that caused havoc all afternoon.

MACU (2-0) held Bethel College (Kan.) (0-1) to one made field goal in the opening quarter, and the Lady Evangels forced 24 turnovers as Mid-America won the game 87-67.

Neither team made a shot until Jennah Coffman opened the scoring at the 6:25 mark of the first quarter, and her made 3-pointer ignited a 14-1 run that lasted into the final seconds of the first quarter. With 1.1 seconds to play, Bethel's Jade Brown took an inbound pass, and she made a 3-point shot at the buzzer – Bethel's only made field goal of the period, and after 10 minutes of play, the score was 14-6 MACU.

Alexis Shannon connected from long range 52 seconds into the second frame, but it was nearly six minutes before MACU mad another shot. In that time, Bethel went on a 15-2 run to take a 21-19 lead. MACU quickly reclaimed the advantage on a triple from Janaya Hines, but they were unable to get much in the way of separation before halftime, as MACU carried a 29-24 lead into the break.

In the third quarter, however, the offense woke up. MACU used a 19-4 run early in the frame to push their lead to 20, and the game was never in doubt after that. The lead reached as many as 24 with 2:55 to go in the contest, and MACU coasted home with the 87-67 victory.

Shannon led all scorers in the game with 20 points, and Jessica Fairley equaled a career-high with 17 tallies in the win. Hines scored 16 in the contest, and Coffman added a baker's dozen with 13. Shannon also led the way with eight rebounds, and Mykayla Flores put up seven assists for the second game in a row. As a team, MACU shot 43.2% (32-for-74) from the floor, 35.7% (10-for-28), and 59.1% from the foul line (13-for-22). For the second game in a row, MACU grabbed 50 rebounds, and they posted six blocks in the game as well.

MACU will hit the road for the first time in 2017-18 on Thursday evening, heading north to take on the Coyotes of Kansas Wesleyan University (0-2). Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.