POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. - From the opening tip-off of their game on Friday night, the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team dominated the Bellevue University Bruins in the paint. The dominance helped MACU methodically put the game away as they remained unbeaten on the season.
MACU (4-0) out-scored Bellevue (7-2) 14-0 in the paint in the first half, and they extended that to a 26-4 edge by the time the final buzzer sounded, as the Evangels cruised to the 83-63 win over the Bruins in the first game of the College of the Ozarks Coke Classic.
Bellevue struck first from the perimeter, but MACU quickly answered inside. The Evangels scored six straight, and their first 10 points all came from inside the 3-point arc as MACU built a 10-6 lead. After a free throw from Alexis Shannon pushed the lead to five, The Bruins hit two more threes to take a 12-11 lead. The lead changed hands four times in rapid succession late in the first quarter, and after 10 minutes of play, MACU held an 18-15 lead.
For the Bruins, they relied on the 3-point shot to keep the game close. The Bruins made only one two-point shot in the first quarter, but they hit four 3-pointers, and in the second quarter the trend continued. MACU continued to control the game inside, and the Evangels slowly expanded their advantage, but the long range shooting from Bellevue kept the Bruins within shouting distance. MACU's lead grew to 10 at the 5:35 mark of the second stanza, but the Bruins hit four second quarter 3-pointers, and at the break, MACU led 42-34.
MACU put the clamps on the Bruins long range game in the second half, holding Bellevue to 3-for-14 from beyond the arc in the second half, and as a result, MACU began to put more distance between themselves and the Bruins. A 7-0 run late in the third quarter from the Evangels pushed the lead to 61-44, and with 10 minutes to play, the Evangels led 61-46.
Bellevue was unable to get closer than nine points in the final frame, and MACU used an 11-2 run that spanned nearly three minutes to pull out to an 18-point lead. Shelby Thrailkill knocked down a left corner 3-pointer with under a minute left to give MACU a 20-point advantage, and neither team scored again as MACU took the win 83-63.
Shannon led all scorers with 25, and she notched her first double-double of the season by adding 10 rebounds. Shaylan Coleman added 18 points and grabbed eight boards, and Darby Price chipped in a dozen tallies and grabbed seven rebounds. Price and Jennah Coffman each dished out three asists.
MACU will turn around and complete the Classic on Saturday when they battle the Cumberland University (Tenn.) Phoenix (1-3) at 1 p.m.
