FORT WORTH, Texas - In a defensive battle on the basketball court, missed opportunities are magnified. The Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team experienced that on Saturday as a late rally ran out of time and the Evangels dropped a tough game on the road.
MACU (7-2, 2-2 SAC) put together a 20-12 run late in the fourth quarter, but the Texas Wesleyan University Rams (5-5, 3-1 SAC) were able to hold off the rally and win the game 79-73.
Shaylan Coleman buried a 3-pointer on the Evangels' first possession of the game, but a 7-0 run gave the Rams a lead they would hold for the rest of the quarter. Texas Wesleyan led by as many as eight in the quarter, but a 7-0 run late in the frame helped MACU close to within one at 19-18 after 10 minutes of play.
Nevada Denton knocked down a triple on the Evangels' first shot of the second frame, to give the Evangels the lead back and extend the run to 10-0, and the teams began to swap the lead. The teams traded the lead a total of six times in the quarter, but again in the middle stages, Texas Wesleyan opened a modest lead. A 10-4 spurt from the Rams opened up a six point lead, and at the half, Texas Wesleyan led 44-39.
MACU quickly closed the gap to 44-42 on a 3-point play from Loralei Siliga, but the Rams were able to hold the lead. Five straight points helped the Rams open a 49-42 lead, and after MACU closed the gap to 55-51, Texas Wesleyan used a 7-0 run to open their largest lead of the game - a 62-51 advantage.
It was then that MACU began to whittle away. MACU scored the last six points of the third quarter, with all six points coming from Denton. An 8-3 spurt to begin the fourth quarter for the Rams helped get the lead back to 10, but MACU summoned one final charge. In just less than four minutes, MACU closed the gap with an 11-4 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Denton that pulled MACU to within three at 74-71 with 1:40 to play.
The Rams, however, scored five of the last seven points in the game, and Texas Wesleyan took the win, 79-73.
Coleman led the Evangels with her second straight 20-point effort, pouring in 20 points, dishing out six assists, and picking up four steals. Denton poured in 17 points in the game, and she had four steals as well, and Alexis Shannon scored 12 for MACU.
As a team, MACU made 25 of 57 (43.9%) from the floor, 7 of 24 (29.2%) from long range, and 16 of 20 (80%) from the foul line.
MACU will have one more game in the calendar year of 2018, when the Evangels step out of SAC play to wrap up their non-conference slate at Kansas Wesleyan University (9-4) on December 29 at 3 p.m.
