OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team appeared to seize control of their game early on Thursday evening, as they once again used a big first quarter to build their advantage. When crunch time came, however, the Lady Evangels were unable to make the lead stand up.
MACU (5-4, 1-2 SAC) struggled to defend the 3-point line in the game, as Southwestern Assemblies of God University (5-4, 2-1 SAC) rallied to take the win 85-83.
The teams split the first 14 points in the game, but MACU closed the first quarter on a 13-2 run to build a 20-9 lead after 10 minutes of play. The Lady Evangels pushed their lead to 13 twice in the second period, but SAGU began to whittle away. The Lions closed the half on a 13-4 run, and at the break, MACU led by only four, 35-31.
The Lady Evangels opened the third quarter on a 7-3 run, pushing their lead to eight, but SAGU immediately responded with eight straight points to know the score at 42. From there, the game took on a tighter feel, as the teams swapped the lead repeatedly. MACU pulled ahead 55-51 late in the frame, but a late 3-pointer trimmed MACU's lead to a single point, 54-53, after three quarters of play.
SAGU took the lead back just 19 seconds into the fourth stanza, but MACU regrouped. The Lady Evangels surged back in front on a made 3-pointer from Chelseah Savage with 7:39 remaining, one of 10 lead changes in the quarter. SAGU led by as many as six in the period, holding a 74-68 advantage with 2:54 to play, but MACU rallied to reclaim the lead with 1:31 remaining in the game on a layup from MyKala Flores that put MACU ahead 78-77. The Lady Evangels, however, were unable to make it stick. The Lions scored eight of the final 13 points in the game, taking the win 85-83.
Alexis Shannon scored 32 points to lead all scorers in the game, and she grabbed a team-high nine rebounds as well. Flores scored a dozen and dished out four assists, and Nevada Denton scored 10 points in the game. MACU made 32-of-71 (45.1%) shots in the game, including 6-of-20 (30%) 3-pointers. MACU also shot it well from the foul line, making 13-of-18 (72.2%) charity tosses in the contest. The game turned on 3-point shots from SAGU, however, as the Lions made 10-of-19 (52.6%) attempts from long distance in the game.
The Lady Evangels will hit the road for the first time in Sooner Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon, when they head to Fort Worth, Texas to take on the Texas Wesleyan University Rams (2-7, 0-3 SAC) at 3 p.m.
