MUSKOGEE, Okla. – The weather on Saturday did not dampen the spirits of the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team as they looked to close out the 2017-18 road schedule on a high note. The Lady Evangels started slowly, but once they got rolling, they took another road win, and in the process, they gained ground on the Sooner Athletic Conference leaders.
MACU (17-7, 11-5 SAC) overcame an early 12-point deficit at Bacone College (13-11, 5-10 SAC), rallying to take their 10th win in 13 games since the Christmas break by the score of 77-66. The Lady Evangels picked up a half game on the SAC lead as well, as both Oklahoma City University and the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma lost on Saturday, helping the Lady Evangels close the gap on the SAC lead to 2.5 games.
Bacone struck first on a pair of free throws from Asya Tims, and after Chelseah Savage tied the game on a running bank shot just 34 seconds later, the Warriors seized control. Bacone held MACU off the scoreboar for the next 3:16 of game time, and in that span, Bacone scored 11 straight points to build a 13-2 lead. The Lady Evangels eventually closed the gap to five in the waning moments of the stanza, but a 3-pointer from Bela Raimondi gave Bacone a 22-14 lead after one quarter of play.
Bacone continued to play well early in the second quarter, building a 12-point lead, but with Bacone up 11 and 5:11 remaining before halftime, MACU put together a long run of their own. MACU pieced together an 11-0 run that saw four different MACU players contribute to the total, and with 2:50 to play, Janaya Hines nailed a pair of free throws to tie the score at 33. Bacone got a basket from Alyssa Springs to reclaim the lead, but with 1:05 to play in the first half, Nevada Denton converted a traditional 3-point play to give MACU their first lead of the game. The lead was short-lived, however, as Terri Baker made a 16-foot jumper for Bacone in the final minute to provide the Warriors with a halftime lead of 37-36.
Ossyana Ozoani gave the Lady Evangels the lead just 24 seconds into the second half, and the Lady Evangels did not trail again. MACU put together a 10-3 run in the middle stretch of the third quarter, helping MACU push a 42-40 lead out to 52-43 with 2:33 to play in the period, and at the end of three, MACU held the lead by eight, 57-49.
The MACU lead reached double-figures for the first time at the 6:59 mark of the fourth quarter on a bucket from Brittany Thompson, and Savage followed with a 3-pointer to put MACU on top 66-52 with 6:04 to go in the game. Bacone did briefly get the deficit into the single digits with 3:49 left in the game, but back-to-back scores from Denton and Alexis Shannon pushed it back to 13, and MACU cruised in with the 11-point win, 77-66.
Shannon led all scorers in the game with 17 points, and she also grabbed eight rebounds. Savage netted 16 tallies and dished out four assists, Jennah Coffman scored 14, and Ozoani chipped in 11 and seven boards. As a team, MACU made 26-of-66 (39.4%) shots in the game, 6-of-17 (35.3%) from long range, and at the foul line, the Lady Evangels were 19-for-23 (82.6%).
MACU will play their third game in five days on Monday night, returning home to do battle with USAO (21-4, 13-3 SAC) at 6 p.m.
