GOODWELL, Okla. – Any road win in the Sooner Athletic Conference is a good win, and the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team was able to claim such a victory on Thursday evening.
MACU (6-0, 1-0 SAC) played a stifling defense all night long on the road at Oklahoma Panhandle State University, and the Evangels led for most of the night and pulled away to a 70-60 win over the Aggies (4-3, 0-1 SAC) late to keep their unbeaten record intact.
The Evangels scored the first five points of the game on a 3-pointer from Nevada Denton, which was followed by a steal and a short jumper from Loralei Siliga. The teams traded layups just over a minute later, but then OPSU began to tighten things up.
The Aggies twice cut the margin to a single point only to have MACU stretch their lead back to three each time, but with 6:07 to play in the first quarter, OPSU tied the score at 11 on a 3-pointer from Taylor Acosta. Denton answered with a bucket and a pair of free throws to restore MACU to a 4-point advantage with 2:32 to play in the opening stanza, but the Aggies answered with five straight points to claim their first lead of the night at 16-15 with 1:40 remaining in the period. Sydney Wycoff, though, was fouled while shooting with 16 seconds to play in theframe, and she knocked down both charity tosses to five MACU a 17-16 lead after 10 minutes of play.
Defense continued to dictate play in the second quarter. The teams combined for 10 turnovers and 17 missed shots in the second stanza, and that kept the game close throughout the 10-minute frame. After OPSU took the lead on the first play of the period, Jessica Fairley buried a 3-point shot to reclaim the lead for MACU, and the Evangels built a lead of as many as five points in the stanza. OPSU reclaimed the edge on a jumper from Nadia Hayes at the 4:21 mark, but just nine seconds later, Alexis Shannon gave MACU the lead back with a pair of free throws that put the Evangels in front 26-25. After two more lead changes, MACU closed the quarter on an 8-4 spurt, and at intermission, MACU led 35-31.
The Evangels led for much of the third quarter as well, though the Aggies kept MACU from pulling away. Jennah Coffman scored on the first possession of the second half, giving the Evangels a 6-point lead – their largest of the night to that juncture. OPSU also claimed their largest lead of the game in the third frame, a 2-point edge on a pair of free throws from Acosta with 4:44 to play, but MACU reclaimed the advantage on a 3-pointer from Coffman, and they did not trail again in the quarter, taking a 53-49 lead into the fourth.
A quick 6-0 spurt early in the final frame pushed MACU's lead to 59-51, and the Evangels began to grind out the clock. The Evangels led by at least five for the rest of the night, with Shaylan Coleman burying a 3-point dagger with 1:34 to play to give MACU the 67-58 lead. Coffman scored just less than a minute later to push MACU's lead to a high water mark of 11 at 69-58, and the Evangels claimed the victory 70-60.
Coffman and Coleman tied for the game-high is scoring with 15 points apiece. Sydney Wycoff and Darby Price led the Evangels with seven boards each, and Coleman added three assists to lead MACU's effort.
As a unit, MACU shot 26-for-66 (39.4%) from the floor, and 7-for-28 (25%) from long range. MACU was 11-for-15 (73.3%) at the foul line as well. Despite the Aggies keeping the margin close, the Evangels led for more than 80% of the contest, and MACU out-rebounded OPSU 39-33.
The Evangels will wrap up their road trip with a stiff test on Saturday afternoon, when they have to battle the NAIA #6 Wayland Baptist Flying Queens (5-0, 1-0 SAC) in Plainview, Texas at 1 p.m.
