OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off back-to-back NCCAA National Championships, the Mid-America Christian women's basketball team will have high expectations for the 2019-20 season as the Evangels were picked to finish fourth in the Sooner Athletic Conference Pre-Season Poll announced by the conference office on Thursday.
The Evangels received 69 votes, placing five votes ahead of John Brown in fifth and two votes back of Science & Arts for the No. 3 spot. Oklahoma City and Wayland Baptist were picked as the SAC favorites, with both teams placing in a tie for first with 95 votes apiece, but OCU held a slight 6-5 edge in first-place votes.
Mid-America Christian will have championship aspirations once again after winning the 2019 NCCAA National Championship in dramatic fashion. MACU trailed Brewton-Parker by 12 midway through the fourth quarter, but Alexis Shannon buried a crucial three-pointer that ignited a huge run over the final five minutes to propel the Evangels to an 87-84 comeback victory.
The Evangels finished the 2018-19 season with a 25-9 record and went 14-8 against SAC competition before storming through the NCCAA Central Region and National Tournament field. MACU earned several NCCAA awards following the championship run, which included Shannon being named an NCCAA First Team All-American and a spot on the NCAA All-Tournament Team. Recent MACU graduate Shaylan Coleman was selected as the NCCAA Tournament MVP and NCCAA Third Team All-American and MACU Head Coach Hannah Moeller was tabbed as the NCCAA Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Shannon will lead the Evangels once again during the 2019-20 season after averaging 18 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game while finishing second on the team with 57 steals and dishing out 56 assists to garner All-SAC First Team honors a season ago.
Another key returner for the Evangels is senior guard Nevada Denton. The 5'9" guard from Blanchard, Okla. scored at a 9.1 ppg clip while being a strong defensive presence with a team-leading 21 blocks.
Leading the point for MACU will be sophomore guard Sydney Wycoff. In her first season with the program, the 5'6" guard from Ankeny, Iowa recorded 85 assists while shooting a blistering 30-for-69 (43.5 percent) from the three-point arc last season.
Despite losing some talented pieces in Coleman and Jennah Coffman to graduation, the Evangels brought in a talented core of newcomers. Senior guard Rachel Tapps headlines the incoming class after spending the last season at Texas A&M-Kingsville, where she averaged 7.3 ppg and 27 steals for the Javelinas.
The Evangels also bring in a talented guard in Lexi Hernandez. A 5'6" guard who comes to MACU from Seward County CC, Hernandez scored at 12.8 ppg clip for the Saints last season while gunning for a 35.4 percent clip from the three-point arc and 80.6 percent from the foul line.
Mid-America Christian also landed another strong transfer in Aaliyah Endsley, who comes to MACU from Murray State College. A 5'4" guard from Newcastle, Okla., Endsley scored 11.3 ppg and dished out 76 assists for the Aggies.
The Evangels will open the 2019-20 season on Friday, Oct. 25 with a home matchup against Manhattan Christian College. The opener is slated for a 6 p.m. tip-off at the Gaulke Activity Center.
