OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team faced a tough test against Evangel University on Friday night at the Gaulke Activity Center, but senior forward Alexis Shannon made a clutch layup with 11 seconds remaining in overtime and Lexi Hernandez buried a pair of game-sealing free throws to push MACU to an 89-86 overtime victory.
Senior forward Loralei Siliga led MACU with her first double-double of the season, scoring 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go with 10 rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Aaliyah Endsley also put together her best performance with the Evangels, tallying 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting and converted on 7-of-9 from the foul line while Hernandez finished with 17 points on 5-of-8 from the three-point arc.
Mid-America Christian (2-0) and Evangel (0-1) played a tightly contested first quarter where neither team gained more than a two-point lead, but the Evangels were able to gain some momentum midway through the second quarter.
Trailing 28-27 with six minutes to go until the halftime break, Endsley almost single-handedly took over the game, recording eight of her 18 points in a three-minute stretch, capping an 8-2 run on a three-pointer at the 3:07 mark to give the Evangels a 36-30 lead.
Jessica Fairley knocked down a three-pointer and Siliga made a layup with 1:36 to go to help give MACU a 42-34 advantage at the half.
Evangel was able to grab the early momentum in the second half, outscoring MACU by a 17-7 margin through the first 4:16 to take a 51-49 lead, giving the Evangels their first deficit since the 5:35 mark in the second quarter.
Mid-America Christian was able to get momentum back on its side with seven unanswered on buckets by Rachel Tapps and Siliga before Hernandez buried a three from the top of the key with 2:52 remaining, extending the MACU lead to 56-51.
The Evangels were able to take a six-point edge at 66-60 into the fourth quarter following a Shannon layup with 30 seconds left and a defensive stop on the Crusaders final possession.
MACU maintained control until the midway point in the fourth period, when EU's Lexi Vaught buried a trio of three-pointers on three consecutive possessions to give the Crusaders a 76-72 lead with 2:42 to go in regulation.
Evangel maintained its four-point edge until the 1:13 mark, when Siliga came up with a huge bucket to cut the deficit to two before Shannon knocked down a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to tie the game at 77-all.
Mid-America Christian was able to come up with a big defensive stop with eight seconds remaining, giving the Evangels one last chance at a possible game-winner, but Endsley's three-point try from the right corner bounced off the rim, sending the game to an overtime period.
In the extra session, the Crusaders held a one-point lead with a minute left, but Siliga came up big for the Evangels once again with a layup in the paint with 55 seconds on the clock, putting MACU back in-front 85-84.
MACU came up with a big defensive stop on the ensuing possession, setting up Shannon for one of the biggest plays in the game. With the shot clock winding down, the senior forward made a hard drive down the left side of the lane for a layup just before the shot clock expired to extend MACU's lead to three.
Evangel was able to score a putback off a three-point miss to close the gap back to one with three seconds left, but Hernandez was fouled on the in-bound play and knocked down both free throws to seal the 89-86 victory.
After coming up with the biggest play in the game, Shannon finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and a team-high three steals.
Mid-America Christian will be back in-action next Tuesday as the Evangels will face a challenge from crosstown foe Oklahoma Christian with a 6 p.m. tip-off at the Gaulke Activity Center.
