BETHANY, Okla. – In their first game of 2018, the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team hit the road to kick off the second half of the season. The game started slowly, but a huge second quarter helped the Lady Evangels get the year started on the right foot.
MACU (8-4, 3-2 SAC) out-scored Southwestern Christian University (5-5, 2-3 SAC) 23-7 in the second quarter, and from there the Lady Evangels cruised home with the 76-46 win.
SCU opened the game on a 7-2 run, but MACU's Alexis Shannon and Ossyana Ozoani combined for 10 straight points to take a 12-9 lead. SCU's Eliora Johnson kept the Eagles close into the waning moments of the quarter, but in the frame's final four minutes, MACU closed out the period on a 9-2 run to take a 21-13 lead.
MACU quickly took a 12-point lead, and in the middle of the second quarter, the Lady Evangels took control. MACU closed the frame on a 15-3 run to break the game open, and the Lady Evangels never looked back. The third quarter went scoreless for several minutes before Mid-America eventually pushed their lead to 28 points in the quarter, and when the period ended, MACU led 56-31. The game was never closer than 22 in the fourth period, and with 1:55 to go, Shannon pushed the lead to 31 with a layup that put MACU on top 76-45, and the Lady Evangels allowed only one point in the final minutes, as MACU won 76-46.
Shannon scored 21 points to lead all scorers, and she added nine rebounds – also a game high. Ozoani added 11 points in the win. The Lady Evangels shot 30-for-61 (49.2%) for the game, including 5-for-15 (33.3%) from long range. At the stripe, MACU made 11-of-18 (61.1%) charity tosses.
The Lady Evangels were scheduled to play St. Gregory's University on Saturday, January 6th, but due to SGU's closure, that game has been awarded by the NAIA as a forfeit win to MACU. The Lady Evangels will be back in action on January 11th, when they head to Goodwell, Oklahoma to take on the Oklahoma Panhandle State University Aggies (8-3, 1-3 SAC) at 6 p.m.
