The Lowdown: Texas Wesleyan @ Mid-America Christian University (SAC Quarterfinals)
Time: Feb. 28 @ 6 p.m.
Location: Gaulke Activity Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Live Video:
Live Stats:
The Dish on the Evangels: The Mid-America Christian University Women's Basketball Evangels enter tonight's matchup as the fourth seed in the SAC tournament and are 19-10 overall, with a 10-8 mark in the SAC. It's the first time the Evangels have won 19 games in a season as an NAIA school.
Rodriguez has been the offensive catalyst for the Evangels, whose 20.2 points per game leads the team and ranks second in the SAC and third in the NAIA. She scored 15 points last Saturday (Feb. 25) against No. 7 Oklahoma City University to give her 546 points, setting the school single-season mark as an NAIA program.
Rodriguez has also hit a team-high 76 threes and is second on the team with 106 assists on the season. She is fourth in the NAIA in free-throw percentage (.861) and ninth in threes per game (2.8).
Mikki Flores is second in scoring with 12.4 ppg and is third in the conference and fifth in the NAIA in assists per game (5.68 apg). She also has 165 total assists this year, the most in a single-season for the Evangels since joining the NAIA.
Jamie Lamb is scoring 9.6 ppg and Brittany Thompson leads the Evangels in rebounding with 6.6 boards per game. D'Shala Powell is averaging 6.2 rebounds a game.
As a unit, the Evangels are sixth in the NAIA in both total rebounds per game (45.4), seventh in scoring offense per game (79.7) and ninth in both threes per game (7.7) and defensive rebounds per game (29.9).
The Dish on the Lady Rams: The Texas Wesleyan University Lady Rams are 18-11 this season and also finished with a 10-8 record in the SAC.
Katelynn Threats is averaging a double-double for the Lady Rams, with team-highs of 16.2 points per game and 10.3 rebounds. She also ranks 10th in the NAIA in defensive rebounds per game (seven). Bailey Broadnax is second in scoring with 12.2 ppg along with 7.8 rpg. Ashlie Bruner is scoring 10.6 ppg and has recorded a team-best 6.2 assists per game that ranks second in the NAIA.
The Lady Rams are seventh in the NAIA in assists per game (16.9).
The Series: The Evangels have won seven of the last eight in the series against the Lady Rams, including a season sweep this year. MACU is 7-2 vs. TWU overall and 3-2 inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
Dropping Dimes: Tonight's contest between the Evangels and Lady Rams will showcase two of the top distributors in the country. TWU's Ashlie Bruner is second in the NAIA in assists per game (6.2 apg), while the Evangels' Mikki Flores ranks fifth (5.7 apg).
The Coaches:
Hannah Moeller is 19-10 in her first season as head coach of the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball program, including matching the team's best-ever 10-game start as an NAIA school at 9-1. The 19 victories are the most in a season for the Evangels since joining the NAIA.
Moeller is no stranger to MACU; she served as the assistant women's basketball coach during the 2010-2011 season for current Yale University assistant coach Roman Owen.
Moeller takes over the program after a four-year tenure at Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College, now Randall University. During her time at Hillsdale, Moeller was named the 2016 NCCAA National Coach of the Year, won two national championships, was twice named Southwest Regional Coach of the Year, coached nine All-American players and touted a 105-28 coaching record.
In her four seasons working with Hillsdale Free Will Baptist, Moeller accomplished the following:
2016 NCCAA National Coach of the Year
2016 NCCAA National Runner-Up
2013, 2014 ACCA National Champions
2015 ACCA National Runner-Up
2013 and 2016 NCCAA Southwest Region Coach of the Year
2016 season spent 14 weeks ranked #1 in the country
In addition, Moeller was responsible for the recruitment and development of the following student-athletes:
2016 NCCAA/ACCA National Player of the Year
Five NCCAA All-Americans, three for repeating years
Nine ACCA All-Americans, five for repeating years
Three NCCAA Southwest Region Most Valuable Players
Nine NCCAA All-Southwest Region players
14 NCCAA/ACCA Scholar Athletes
Moeller served as the associate head coach at Hillsdale Free Will Baptist during the 2011-2012 and helped lead the Lady Saints to the 2012 ACCA National Championship. Moeller is no stranger to MACU; she served as the assistant women's basketball coach during the 2010-2011 season for current Yale University assistant coach Roman Owen.
After signing to play basketball at the University of Louisiana-Monroe as a senior in high school, Moeller finished her playing career at Rogers State University where she was named the 2009 Rogers State University Female Student Athlete of the Year, a 2009 NAIA Academic All-American and the 2009 Distinguished Graduate of the Sports Management department.
Moeller holds an Associate of Arts from Southwestern Christian University and a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management from Rogers State University. Her graduate work is in physical education from the University of Central Oklahoma.
Hannah, her husband Marcus and their 10-month old son Owen reside in Oklahoma City and attend Frontline Church Downtown.
Hannah, her husband Marcus and their 10-month old son Owen reside in Oklahoma City and attend Frontline Church Downtown.
Bill Franey is in his sixth season as head coach of the Texas Wesleyan University Lady Rams. Franey came to TWU in 2009 as an assistant coach and was named interim head coach in 2011. He was then named head coach in October of the same year. Franey has an overall record of 85-70 in five seasons for the Lady Rams and ranks third in program history in coaching wins.
Up Next: With a win, the Evangels will square off against the winner of eighth-seeded Bacone College and No. 1-seed Oklahoma City University in the SAC semifinal round on Friday (Mar. 3). The semifinals and championship game will be played at Abe Lemons Arena on the OCU campus.
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