OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team is preparing to open Sooner Athletic Conference play this weekend as the Evangels will host Langston at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21 before traveling to McPherson, Kan. to take on Central Christian at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (4-2) split a pair of games at the Oklahoma City Classic last week, defeating Haskell Indian Nations University 75-63 on Friday, Nov. 15 before falling to Philander Smith College 68-62 on Saturday. Alexis Shannon led the Evangels with 25 points and 11 rebounds in the victory over the Indians while Lexi Hernandez turned in a season-high 18-point performance the loss to the Panthers.
SCOUTING THE LADY LIONS
Langston enters conference action with a 1-2 record and is coming off its first win of the season with a 65-64 victory at Wiley (Texas) last Friday.
Through the first three games, the Lady Lions are averaging just 68.7 points per game, ranking ninth out of 11 teams in the league while allowing their opponents to score 70.6 per game for seventh in the SAC.
LU is led by sophomore guard Grace Williams, who is averaging 20 points per game on 40.9 percent shooting from the field, 33 percent from the three-point arc and 84.2 percent from the free throw line. Freshman guard Kyla Stembridge leads the LU rebounding efforts, ripping down 8.3 boards per game while junior forward Jailynn Lawson will run the point with a team-leading 14 assists for a 4.7 assist per game clip.
Lawson is also the team's defensive leader, tallying seven steals in the first three games for a 2.3 steals per game rate.
HISTORY WITH THE LADY LIONS
The Evangels and Lady Lions will be facing each other for just the fourth time during the NAIA era as Langston enters its second year as a member of the Sooner Athletic Conference.
In last season's matchups, MACU got the better of Langston in each game, taking down the Lady Lions in Langston, Okla. on Jan. 17 by a score of 83-75 before coming back to Gaulke for a 72-59 win on Feb. 9. In that last matchup, Shannon put together one of strongest performances of the season, notching 31 points on 12-of-21 from the field and converted 7-of-10 from the charity stripe to go with six rebounds and three assists.
SCOUTING THE LADY TIGERS
Central Christian will make its way into league action with a 2-3 overall record, picking up its second win of the season on Tuesday with an 84-68 victory at Barclay College.
Prior to that win at Barclay, the Lady Tigers struggled mightily on the offensive end, ranking dead last in the SAC in scoring offense at 67.5 ppg while giving up the eighth-most points at 71.5 per game.
Leading the CCC offense is senior guard Holly Golden, averaging 10.5 ppg, but is shooting just 23 percent from the field and 11.5 percent from three. Junior guard Cieara Carter has been the most effective of the Central Christian scorers, averaging 9.3 ppg on a 57.9 percent shooting clip.
The Lady Tigers have a large rebounding presence in 6-3 junior center Kassidy Forsberg, who is ripping down 9.5 rpg while Jordan Dixon and Maria Cabello have been evenly distributing on offense with 10 assists apiece (2.5 apg).
Junior point guard Tania Lowe has been the team's leader on the defensive end with 15 steals, averaging 3.8 spg while Forsberg has recorded a team-best six blocks for a 1.5 per game clip.
HISTORY WITH THE LADY TIGERS
Mid-America Christian has won 14 of the last 16 matchups against the Lady Tigers since 2003 and are undefeated against Central Christian in the NAIA era. In last season's meetings, the Evangels defeated CCC 89-68 in McPherson, Kan. on Jan. 19 before following it up with a resounding 108-58 win at the Gaulke Activity Center on Feb. 7.
The last time the Evangels played at Central Christian, the Lady Tigers played MACU close as it was just a six-point game heading into the fourth quarter. However, the Evangels found their groove in the final period of play, outscoring Central Christian 30-15 in the final 10 minutes of action.
GETTING BACK INTO AN OFFENSIVE RHYTHM
After opening the season with three straight home games where the Evangels reached the 80-point plateau in each matchup, MACU has struggled to find an offensive rhythm outside of the Gaulke Activity Center. In the three regular season games outside of Gaulke, the Evangels are averaging just 67.6 ppg on 40.4 percent shooting, 34.3 percent from three and are converting on 53.6 percent from the foul line. The Evangels will be happy to be home on Thursday night as MACU is averaging just a shade under 100 points a game on 48 percent shooting from the floor and 39 percent from the three-point arc.
HERNANDEZ HITTING HER STRIDE
Despite the Evangels offensive struggles, junior guard Lexi Hernandez has stepped up her game in the last three contests. Since her rough shooting performance against Oklahoma Christian, the Canyon, Texas product has found her stride once again. Hernandez has scored 14 or more points in each of the last three games, knocking down 48.6 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from the three-point arc. On top of her offensive abilities, Hernandez is also a defensive dynamo, leading the team with 16 steals (2.7 spg).
