The Lowdown: USAO @ Mid-America Christian University
Time: Feb. 4 @ 3 p.m.
Location: Gaulke Activity Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Live Video:
Live Stats:
The Dish on the Lady Evangels: The Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels are now 15-7 overall and 6-5 in the Sooner Athletic Conference after picking up a key SAC road win Thursday evening (Feb. 2), 77-68 at Texas Wesleyan University. Nevada Denton poured in a career-high 25 points to fuel the victory for MACU.
The Lady Evangels led much of the way and built the edge up to 17 when a three by Mikki Flores made it 54-37 at the 5:00 mark of the third quarter.
With the MACU lead still at 12, the Lady Rams began to charge back by outscoring the Lady Evangels 12-1 over the remaining 31 seconds of the third quarter into the first 3:05 of the fourth quarter that gave TWU its first lead since the 4:11 point of the first period.
But the Lady Evangels answered right back with threes by Flores and Denton to jump back on top 66-61.
After a layup by Bailey Broadnax cut the lead to three, Denton stepped up with another huge trey that stretched the lead back to 69-63 with 2:43 remaining.
The closest the Lady Rams came was four down the stretch and Denton closed the deal by going 4-of-4 at the charity stripe over the final 14 seconds.
Sarai Rodriguez has been the offensive catalyst for the Lady Evangels, whose 20.6 points per game leads the team and ranks second in the SAC and fourth in the NAIA. Rodriguez has earned three National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Player of the Week awards along with one OklahomaSports.Net honor this season.
Rodriguez has also hit a team-high 61 threes and is second on the team with 85 assists on the season.
Mikki Flores is second in scoring with 12.1 ppg and is coming off a SAC Player of the Week honor. Flores is third in the conference and sixth in the NAIA in assists per game (5.8 apg).
Jamie Lamb is scoring 10.9 ppg and Brittany Thompson leads the Lady Evangels in rebounding with seven boards per game.
As a unit, the Lady Evangels are fifth in the NAIA in total rebounds per game (46.0) and sixth in both defensive rebounds per game (30.6) and scoring offense per game (81.8 ppg).
The Dish on the Drovers: The USAO Drovers are 9-10 overall but have a 7-4 mark in the SAC. USAO is coming off an 83-60 win over St. Gregory's University that snapped a two-game losing streak.
Ely has been the offensive anchor for the Drovers this season, leading the team in points (15.6 ppg), rebounds (9.1 rpg) and assists (3.0 apg). Worthy is also scoring in double-figures at 10.2 ppg with a team-best 34 threes. She is also 11th in the NAIA in three-point percentage (.425).
USAO is ninth in the NAIA as a team in threes per game (7.7).
The Series: After dropping the first five games against the Drovers, the Lady Evangels have won 13 of the last 15 games between the two schools. MACU and USAO split the season series last year, with each squad winning on the road. The Lady Evangels are now 6-3 against USAO at home and have won six of the last seven meetings inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
High Stakes: The Drovers are fourth in the SAC with a 7-4 league record, with the Lady Evangels right behind at 6-5. A win over the Drovers would at least move the Lady Evangels into at least a three-way tie for the fourth spot in the conference, with Texas Wesleyan also currently sitting at 6-5. The top four teams in the final standings will host a SAC quarterfinal game in the postseason tournament.
The Coaches:
Hannah Moeller has begun her first season 15-7 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.
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.
Darrick Matthews is in his second season at the helm of the USAO Drovers. Matthews was previously the head coach at Southwestern Christian University last season, helping SCU to a fourth-place finish in the SAC. Before being named the women's basketball head coach, Matthews served two seasons as assistant men's basketball coach at SCU. As an assistant coach at SCU, Matthews helped coach 2013 NAIA Dunk Champion and current Harlem Globetrotter Tyler Inman.
Up Next: The Lady Evangels will travel to Plainview, Texas to play at No. 16-ranked Wayland Baptist University next Thursday evening (Feb. 9) at 6 pm.
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