GOODWELL, Okla. – For three quarters of their game on Thursday night, the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team played well enough to pick up a road win at Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Unfortunately for the Lady Evangels, the second quarter was not kind.

MACU (9-5, 3-3 SAC) struggled in the final moments of the second frame as OPSU (9-4, 2-4 SAC) finished the half on a 19-2 run to break open the game, and the Aggies took the win, 74-59.

Alexis Shannon scored seven of the first 10 points in the game as MACU opened the contest on a 7-3 run, but OPSU bounced back. A 7-0 OPSU run gave the Aggies the lead at 10-7 with 5:06 to play in the first quarter, but MACU kept it close. The Lady Evangels tied the score at 12 on a 3-pointer from Chelseah Savage with 3:29 to go in the quarter, but OPSU closed the frame with a 5-1 spurt and after one, the Aggies led 17-13.

OPSU scored the first points of the second period when Naomi Rodriguez buried a triple to push the lead to seven, but MACU battled back to get within four on a long range bucket from Jessica Fairley at the 6:31 mark that cut the margin to 24-20. That, however, was the last made field goal of the half for MACU. OPSU, on the other hand, made five of their last nine shots in the first half as a part of the 19-2 run that helped the Aggies build a 43-22 halftime lead.

Ossyana Ozoani got the Lady Evangels offense rolling in the third quarter, making three of her first four free throws in the period, and that helped MACU cut into the deficit. The Lady Evangels out-scored OPSU 20-13 in the frame, but the deficit was still sizeable entering the final 10 minutes. The Lady Evangels were unable to cut further into the deficit in the fourth, and OPSU took the win 74-59.

Shannon led the Lady Evangels offensively with 17 points, and Ozoani added 10 including a 6-of-7 performance from the charity stripe. Shannon added 13 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. MACU made only 16-of-49 (32.7%) field goal attempts in the game, though they did make 6-of-18 (33.3%) 3-pointers. At the foul line, the Lady Evangels were 11-for-17 (64.7%). The big difference in the game came from beyond the arc, where OPSU was able to shoot the ball at a 48.1% clip (13-for-27).

The road does not get any easier for the Lady Evangels on Saturday, as they continue their three game road swing at NAIA #5 Wayland Baptist University (10-3, 4-2 SAC) at 1 p.m.