OKLAHOMA CITY – It is commonly accepted that you cannot win a basketball game in the first quarter of the night. On Tuesday evening, the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team tested that theory, and when the dust had settled, the opposite proved true on this night.
MACU (3-1) raced out to a 26-5 lead in the first 10 minutes of play, and the Graceland University Yellow Jackets (1-4) never recovered as the Lady Evangels held serve on their home court 86-68.
The Lady Evangels scored the first 12 points of the night, and the rout was on. The lead reached 19 at the 2:34 mark of the first quarter on a fast break bucket from Alexis Shannon, and when the quarter was over, MACU held a comfortable 26-5 advantage. MACU scored five of the first seven points of the second quarter before the offense stagnated a bit, and Graceland trimmed the lead to 16 at 34-18. Two free throws from Nevada Denton and another fast break score from Shannon, however, restored MACU's 20-point lead and at the break, the Lady Evangels led 38-18.Mid-America took their largest lead of the game in the third quarter, pushing the margin to 24 on made shots from Jennah Coffman and free throws from Jessica Fairley, and the lead was 64-48 after three quarters. Graceland caused some trouble for the Lady Evangels at times with a trapping full court press in the fourth frame, but the score was never closer than 12 as MACU cruised in with the 86-68 win.
Shannon posted a season-high 31 in the game, and she grabbed 11 rebounds for her first double-double in a MACU uniform, and Coffman added 18 in the win. Mykayla Flores had five assists in the game, and Shannon added four helpers as well.
As a team, MACU shot 36% (32-for-89) from the floor, including 24% (6-for-25) from long range. The Lady Evangels cashed in 16-of-22 (72.7%) free throw attempts, and they grabbed 65 rebounds, including 29 offensive boards in the game.
The Lady Evangels will step outside regulation play on Friday evening, taking to the road to battle NCAA-Division I foe the University of North Texas in an exhibition contest. The game will tip-off at 3 p.m.
