OKLAHOMA CITY - As the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball team continues to pursue their first ever berth to the NAIA women's basketball national championship, the Evangels know that they will need to put together some impressive victories to pad their resume and help themselves move up the polls. After jumping back into the receiving votes column of the most recent NAIA women's basketball coaches' top-25 poll on Tuesday afternoon, the Evangels hit the floor for a battle at Abe Lemons Arena with the NAIA #12 Oklahoma City University Stars.
Unfortunately for the Evangels, MACU was unable to sustain success at both ends of the floor, and OCU gradually pulled away to the 85-62 win.
OCU (19-2, 12-1 SAC) got a huge effort off the bench from three players, and the Stars kept MACU's (14-5, 8-5 SAC) offense in check as OCU took the 85-62 win.
OCU opened the game on a 7-0 run, and the Stars never looked back. MACU struggled to create shots for themselves early, thanks to a high-pressure perimeter defense from OCU and the Stars' size on the block leading to blocked shots. When the offense did get going, the Evangels got back in the game, but they were unable to draw level. A 7-0 run in the first quarter helped MACU close the gap to a deuce at 13-11, but OCU retained the lead, and by the end of the first frame, the Stars had their lead stretched out to nine at 22-13. The Stars slowly stretched out their lead, taking a 41-31 halftime edge, and they put up 44 more points in the second half as the Stars took the win, 85-62.
Alexis Shannon was the lone Evangel in double-figures in the game, and she scored a game high 21 points in the game. Shannon also grabbed 11 rebounds to claim her sixth double-double of the season. She also had one assist and one steal.
MACU made 23 of 76 (30.3%) shots in tthe game, and only connected on six of 27 3-point tries. At the free throw line, MACU was 10-for-13 (76.9%) in the contest.
The Evangels will return home to close the month of January out on Thursday. MACU will play host to #7 Texas Wesleyan on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. at the Gaulke Activity Center.
