The Lowdown: Mid-America Christian University (RV) @ No. 6 Oklahoma City University
Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals
Time: Mar. 3 @ 3 p.m.
Location: Abe Lemons Arena, Oklahoma City, Okla.
Live Video:
Live Stats:
The Dish on the Evangels: The fourth-seeded Mid-America Christian University Women's Basketball Evangels won their 20th game for the first time as an NAIA school by defeating Texas Wesleyan University 75-68 (Feb. 28) in the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinal round.
The Evangels, under first-year coach Hannah Moeller, are currently 20-10 overall and finished 10-8 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. MACU began the season strong, starting 9-1 to match the program's best-ever start as an NAIA school.
In this week's NAIA Top 25 Coaches' poll, the Evangels received votes for the first time since 2013.
Sarai Rodriguez has been the offensive catalyst for the Evangels, leading the team with 20.1 ppg. She has 562 points this season, setting the school single-season mark as an NAIA program.
Rodriguez has also hit a team-high 79 threes and is second on the team with 106 assists on the season.
Mikki Flores is second in scoring with 12.5 ppg and has dished out a team-best 5.6 assists per game. She also has 167 total assists this year, the most in a single-season for the Evangels since joining the NAIA.
Jamie Lamb is scoring 9.3 ppg and Brittany Thompson leads the Evangels in rebounding with 6.5 boards per game. D'Shala Powell is right behind with 6.4 rebounds a game.
The Dish on the Stars: The No. 6-ranked and top-seeded Oklahoma City University Stars are on quite a roll, winners of 13 straight games and 26 of their last 27 overall to come in at 27-2. OCU, the SAC regular season champions, were 17-1 in the SAC.
Daniela Wallen leads the Stars in both points (24.1 ppg) and rebounds (9.2 rpg), with Daniela Galindo averaging 17.0 ppg along with a team-best 68 threes. Mariana Duran has recorded a team-leading 165 assists on the season for OCU.
The Series: The Evangels have dropped all 21 meetings against OCU since joining the NAIA after the Stars won both matchups this season. MACU held a three-point on OCU in the second half at home in the regular season finale last Saturday (Feb. 25), but the Stars went on a 26-6 run to pull away for an 85-68 win.
SAC Rematch: This is the second straight season the Evangels and Stars have met in the SAC semifinals. Last year, MACU gave OCU everything it wanted, but came up short 87-85 when a three-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark.
Get out the Vote: For the first time since 2013, the Mid-America Christian University Evangels received votes in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' poll. MACU received nine votes to come in at No. 31.
Offensive Showcase: The matchup with the Evangels and Stars will showcase two of the top three scorers in the NAIA this season. The Stars' Daniela Wallen leads the NAIA with 24.1 ppg, while Sarai Rodriguez of the Evangels is third at 20.1 ppg.
The Coaches:
Hannah Moeller is 20-10 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. This is the first 20 win 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.
Bo Overton is in his second season at the helm of the Oklahoma City University Stars and has guided the squad to the SAC regular season championship this year. In his first season, Overton led the Stars to a 20-9 record, a berth in the SAC tournament title game and a NAIA National Tournament berth.
Overton has coached abroad for several seasons, including serving as the assistant coach for the Chinese national team in the 2012 Olympics. Overton was an assistant coach under Sherri Coale at the University of Oklahoma from 1998-04 that featured an NCAA Final Four appearance in 2002 along with three Sweet 16 berths and five NCAA Tournament bids
Up Next: Win a win over OCU, the Evangels would face the winner of sixth-seeded USAO and second-seeded Wayland Baptist University in the SAC title game on Saturday (Mar. 4) at 1 pm. The championship game will be held at Abe Lemons Arena on the OCU campus.
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