OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 7-ranked Oklahoma City University Stars broke open a tight game in the second half and defeated the Mid-America Christian University Women's Basketball Evangels 85-68 in Sooner Athletic Conference action (Feb. 25) inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
Even with the setback, the Evangels received good news as USAO fell at Wayland Baptist earlier today, which sets up MACU as the fourth seed in the SAC Tournament. The Evangels will host fifth-seeded Texas Wesleyan University in the SAC quarterfinals on Tuesday evening (Feb. 28) at 6 pm.
Trailing by one at the half, the Evangels came out in the third quarter and tied the score on a jumper from Sarai Rodriguez and then surged ahead 49-46 on a trey by Mikki Flores for their first lead since midway through the first period.
But from that point, the Stars took over and outscored the Evangels 26-6 from the final 5:56 of the third quarter into the first 2:30 of the fourth quarter for a commanding 72-55 lead.
The closest the Evangels got the rest of the way was 13 when Jamie Lamb converted a three-point play to make it 76-63 with 5:30 left.
The Stars then scored the next five points to stretch the lead to 18 and put it away.
The Evangels hung tight with the Stars in the opening half and took a 13-12 lead on a three by Rodriguez at the 5:10 mark of the first quarter.
OCU then gained some separation as six points from Alexis Hill sparked a 12-2 run to end the period and put the Stars in front 24-15.
The Stars twice extended the margin to 10 and was still up nine when the Evangels charged back into it with an 11-3 run over the last 5:02 of the half.
Down five with 1:02 left, consecutive buckets from Lamb finished the burst and brought MACU within 41-40 at the break.
Lamb led the Evangels (19-10, 10-8 SAC) with 16 points, followed by 15 points from Rodriguez. Rodriguez also posted a career-high tying 10 rebounds and six assists.
Flores scored 12 with six dimes, while Erika Brown made the most of her first career start on Senior Day with a career-best nine points. D'Shala Powell had seven points and seven boards for MACU.
The Stars, who won the SAC regular season title, were led by Daniela Wallen's 24 points and 13 boards.
Brooke Irwin scored 17 and Daniela Galindo had 14 points and a game-high eight assists. Hill also reached double-figure scoring for OCU (26-2, 17-1 SAC) with 13 points.
Looking ahead to Tuesday, the Evangels swept the two meetings from Texas Wesleyan in the regular season, winning 81-77 at home and then 77-68 in Ft. Worth, Texas.
