SALINA, Kan. – For the first two games of the season, the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team relied on a balanced attack to pick up a pair of home victories. On Thursday evening, the Lady Evangels were led statistically by a huge night from one player, but in the end, they fell two points short.
MyKala Flores poured in a career-high 31 points, but it was not enough as MACU (2-1) fell to Kansas Wesleyan University (1-2) late, as the Lady Evangels missed three shots to tie or win the game in the final seconds of the contest.
The Coyotes jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the first quarter, but MACU rallied to tie the game at 10, as Flores scored MACU's first 10 points. The Lady Evangels eventually took a 16-13 lead in the frame, but three late free throws helped draw KWU even as the quarter came to a close with the score tied at 16.
MACU went ice cold from the floor in the second quarter. The Lady Evangels made only 3-of-16 shots in the period, and Kansas Wesleyan opened a sizeable halftime advantage with a 24-7 quarter, and at the break the coyotes led 40-23.
Early in the third stanza, MACU began to whittle away at the deficit. A made 3-pointer from Jennah Coffman trimmed the margin to eight at the 5:43 mark of the period, and when Flores scored in the paint to cap a 12-0 run that spanned 3:31 of game time, MACU trailed by just four, 43-39. Just under two minutes later, Flores canned a pair of free throws to knot things at 45, but the Lady Evangels were not able to claim the lead, and after three quarters of play, KWU was clinging to a 54-53 lead.
With 5:04 to play in the game, Flores nailed a 3-pointer to give MACU their first lead since the 27 second mark of the first quarter, and neither team led by more than two points for the rest of the night. The teams traded the lead six times in the waning moments, with MACU taking a 67-66 lead on a made free throw from Rebekah Wilson with just 39 seconds remaining. Wilson, however, missed the second charity toss, and 11 seconds later, KWU claimed the lead on a bucket from Maddie Miller. After MACU turned the ball over, the Evangels put Courtney Heinen on the line with nine seconds remaining, and she made 1-of-2 shots to give KWU a two point lead. MACU had three chances in the final seconds, but a missed 3-pointer from Flores, and two more missed shots from in close on second chances ran out the clock, and KWU held on for the 69-67 win.
Flores' 31-point night was more than twice as big as any other player in the game. She was 10-for-18 from the floor, and a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe in the game as well, and she added six rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Ossyana Ozoani led the Evangels with nine rebounds as well. Mid-America made 24-of-66 (36.4%) shots in the game, but only 3-of-14 (21.4%) from long distance. They were strong at the free throw stripe, though, connecting on 16-of-18 (88.9%) charity tosses.
Mid-America will return home on Tuesday night, November 7, as they play host to the Yellow Jackets of Graceland University (1-1) at 7 p.m.
