The Lowdown: (2) Mid-America Christian University vs. (3) Emmanuel College (Ga.)
NCCAA National Tournament Semifinals
Time: Mar. 16 @ 7:45 p.m. (CST)
Location: Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center, Winona Lake, Ind.
Live Broadcast
NCCAA Bracket
Official NCCAA Tournament Page
The Dish on the Evangels: The Evangels are 23-11 on the season, representing their most wins since joining the NAIA. MACU advanced to the NCCAA National Tournament semifinals with a hard-fought 69-59 victory over seventh-seeded Bluefield College last night (Mar. 15).
The Evangels have won seven of their last nine games overall, with the only two losses during that span coming to No. 5-ranked and SAC champion Oklahoma City University Stars.
Sarai Rodriguez leads the Evangels with 20.3 ppg, including a school record (as an NAIA program) 639 total points this season.
D'Shala Powell leads the Evangels with 6.3 rebounds per game, followed closely by Brittany Thompson with 6.1 rpg.
Mikki Flores is second in scoring (12.4 ppg) and has dished out 200 assists, the most in a single-season for the Evangels since joining the NAIA.
The Dish on the Lady Lions: The Emmanuel College Lady Lions enter tonight's contest at 16-12 overall following a 73-53 win over sixth-seeded and tourney host Grace College in the NCCAA quarterfinals.
Timia Reynolds is pacing the Lady Lions in both points (13.8 ppg) and assists (3.1 apg), while Elise Coberly is right behind in scoring at 13.7 ppg along with a team-high nine rebounds per game. Mikayla Trombley is third in scoring for Emmanuel with 13.3 ppg.
The Series: This will be the first meeting between the two schools since the Evangels defeated Emmanuel 60-55 in the NCCAA National Tournament third-place game to finish the 2008-09 season.
The Coaches:
Hannah Moeller is 23-11 in her first season as head coach of the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball program, representing the most wins for the Evangels as an NAIA school.
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.
Mike Bona is the head coach of the Emmanuel College Lady Lions and has been with the school for over 41 years, including a stint as Athletic Director. Bona has a 70 % winning percentage and was inducted into the Atlanta Tip-Off Club of Georgia's Winningest Basketball Coaches in 1998.
Up Next: Win a win over Emmanuel College, the Evangels would move into the NCCAA National Championship game Saturday (Mar. 18) at 4 pm (CST). MACU would face the winner of top-seeded Roberts Wesleyan College and fourth-seeded Greenville College.
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