WINONA LAKE, Ind. – The last time the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team played for a National title the Lady Evangels were in Division II of the National Christian College Athletic Association. The Lady Evangels had a chance to get back to a title game on Thursday, and they were facing a familiar foe in the national semifinal. Thanks to a huge third quarter, MACU was able to avenge a defeat in last year's semifinal, and the Lady Evangels will have a chance to win it all on Saturday.
MACU (23-11) scored a whopping 30 points in the third quarter, and that was enough to hold off the fifth-ranked Emmanuel College Lions (17-12) to earn a spot in the NCCAA Division I Championship game for the first time in program history.
Emmanuel came out in the first quarter and surged out to a 10-4 lead with 5:43 to play in the period, and the Lions eventually led by as many as seven in the frame. MACU scored five straight points late in the stanza to trim the deficit to 13-11, and after 10 minutes, the Lady Evangels trailed 15-11.
Back-to-back buckets from Nevada Denton early in the second frame helped MACU take a 16-15 lead, but Emmanuel came back quickly to reclaim the lead. Emily Dreslinski scored on the fast break midway through the quarter to give EC a 24-19 lead, and though MACU was able to get the game tied at 26 with 1:47 to go in the half, EC scored the last five points of the period to take a 31-26 lead into the locker room.
Emmanuel scored first in the second half, but then MACU roared to life. MACU put together a 17-3 run to grab a 43-36 lead with 3:29 to go in the third quarter, but the Lady Evangels did not stop there. MACU eventually pushed their lead to 14 points on a bucket from Ossyana Ozoani with 21 seconds to go in the frame, and MACU out-scored Emmanuel 30-14 in the period to take a 56-45 lead into the final 10 minutes.
In the final frame, MACU had to cling to the lead as Emmanuel began to come back. Chelseah Savage scored with 7:24 to play in the game to keep MACU's lead in double-digits at 61-49, but the Lady Evangels followed that by going the next 4:50 of the game without making a shot from the floor. Thankfully for the Lady Evangels, their defense limited Emmanuel to 4-for-10 shooting in that span as the Lady Evangels kept the advantage, though it dwindled to just 63-60 with 2:51 to play. In the final moments of the game, though, the Lions' comeback ran out of steam as MACU closed the game on a 10-0 run to take the 73-60 win.
The Lady Evangels played only six players in the game, and four of them scored in double-figures. Alexis Shannon led all scorers with 25 points and she added nine rebounds. Ozoani finished with her third double-double of the season as she tallied 14 points and grabbed a game-high 13 boards. Jennah Coffman added 14 points as well, and Savage finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
MACU did not shoot the ball particularly well in the game, making only 25-of-65 (38.5%) shots from the floor, 8-of-21 (38.1%) 3-point attempts, and 15-of-21 (68.2%) from the charity stripe. The biggest scoring advantage MACU had in the game came on second chances, where the Lady Evangels held an 18-4 edge in the game.
The win senda MACU to a date with the Concordia University of Ann Arbor (Mich.) Cardinals (22-13) for the NCCAA Division I National Title on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Cardinals reached the title game by defeating Hiwassee College (Tenn.) 91-59 in the quarterfinal, and ousting the defending national champion Greenville College (Ill.) Panthers 62-55 in the semis. This will be the first ever meeting between the two clubs.
