OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian University Women's Basketball Evangels pulled out a 74-69 victory over the Southwestern Christian University Lady Eagles in a Sooner Athletic Conference matchup tonight (Feb. 16) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
The win moves MACU into a three-way tie for fourth place in the SAC with USAO and Texas Wesleyan University at 8-7 in the league. The top four teams will host a SAC Tournament quarterfinal game.
With the Evangels up one at the half, SCU came out of the locker room on fire as Maranda Janz nailed two threes and Eliora Johnson fired in another for a 9-2 spurt that had the Lady Eagles up six at 44-38.
From there, MACU tightened the screws defensively and went on a 17-3 burst to take their biggest lead to that point of 55-47 with 1:20 left in the third.
After SCU came within 55-52 going to the fourth, Jessica Fairley opened the period with five straight points before treys from Mikki Flores and Sarai Rodriguez resulted in the Evangels' largest lead of the night at 66-55 with 5:30 remaining.
The Lady Eagles didn't go quietly as five points from Janz and a three from Johnson carried an 8-0 run that made it a three-point game with 1:19 left.
But the Evangels had an answer as Fairley found Brittany Thompson inside for a layup and following a defensive stop, Flores stepped to the line and hit two crucial free throws for a 70-63 lead with 29 seconds left.
MACU then got two free throws each from Rodriguez and D'Shala Powell to seal the win.
The opening quarter was knotted at 12-12 when scores from Thompson and Jamie Lamb gave the Evangels a four-point lead heading to the second period.
Lamb then opened the next quarter with a three for a seven point lead of 19-12.
Flores hit two free throws and then a trey to twice more extend the lead to seven, but SCU used seven points from Johnson along with four points each by Andi McGill and Grace Hadley to outscore the Evangels 15-6 and surge ahead 32-30 for their first edge since early in the first period.
Another three by Flores and a trey from Fairley helped MACU carry a 36-35 lead into the break.
Flores led five Evangels (17-9, 8-7 SAC) in double-figure scoring with 17 points and Thompson finished with 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Rodriguez scored 15 along with a team-best six assists and Lamb had 12 points. Fairley also reached double-figure scoring with 10 points.
Johnson had a game-high 23 points for the Lady Eagles (13-12, 5-10 SAC) and McGill scored 14 with six assists. Janz added 12 points and pulled down a team-high seven boards.
The Evangels enjoyed a 44-35 edge overall on the boards, including a 15-10 advantage on the offensive glass.
MACU will next remain at home and host Southwestern Assemblies of God University Saturday afternoon (Feb. 18) at 3 pm inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
