OKLAHOMA CITY – In a rematch of last season's NCCAA Central Region Semifinal, the Mid-America Christian women's basketball team put together a dominant second and third quarter performance to come away with an 83-51 win over Nebraska Christian on Tuesday night at the Gaulke Activity Center.
Senior forward Loralei Siliga led the Evangels with 18 points, 10 of which came in the first 2:06 of the third quarter, while Lexi Hernandez and Jessica Fairley added 13 points apiece in the winning effort.
Mid-America Christian (7-2) locked down on Nebraska Christian (1-9) early on, holding the Sentinels without a score through the first 3:39 to hold an early 5-0 advantage.
NCC battled back to tie the score at 10-all on a Justice Alioth bucket with 3:40 to go, but the Evangels were able to lock down defensively the remainder of the period. MACU limited the Sentinels to just one score during an 8-2 run, capped off on an Alexis Shannon layup with 15 seconds remaining to give the Evangels an 18-12 edge heading into the second period.
While the Sentinels were able to keep it to a four-point game through the first five minutes of the second quarter, the Evangels found their mojo in the latter half. With 4:52 remaining Aaliyah Endsley found Shannon on the wing on a drive and dish, as the senior forward buried a three to start a 14-0 run.
An Avery Gregory three-pointer at the 2:49 mark extended the edge to 10 while Fairley notched three points on a free throw make and a putback on an offensive rebound off her own missed free throw attempt, making it a 30-17 game.
Subbing in with 2:10 remaining, senior forward Ossyana Ozoani made an immediate impact in her first action of the season, converting a contested layup with 1:39 remaining and followed it up with a pair of free throws with a minute left to send the Evangels into the half with the 34-17 edge.
The MACU defense held the Sentinels scoreless in the final 8:10, outscoring NCC 16-5 in the period while holding the Sentinels to just 2-for-13 (15.4 percent) from the floor and 0-for-4 from three-point range.
Siliga caught fire to immediately start the second half, burying her first three-pointer of the 2019-20 season from the left wing just eight seconds in. The Oakland, Calif. native was a one-woman wrecking crew over the next two minutes, scoring the Evangels first 10 points of the period. Siliga ended the streak with a three-point play after drawing a foul with 7:54 remaining to make it a 44-21 game.
The Evangels eventually pushed its lead to 30 at the end of the period when Hernandez caught a pass on the right wing and from 32 feet out, launched a buzzer-beating shot that banked in to extend the MACU advantage to 63-33 heading into the fourth quarter.
Mid-America Christian led by as much as 34 in the fourth quarter on a Shelby Thrailkill three-pointer with 59 seconds left. On the play, Rachel Tapps picked up an offensive rebound on an initial Thrailkill three-point miss and kicked it back out to the junior guard at the top of the key, setting the score to 83-49.
After a sluggish offensive performance in the first half, shooting just 11-for-38 (28.9 percent) from the floor and 4-for-15 (26.7 percent) from three, the Evangels were much more efficient in the second by making 18-for-39 (46.2 percent) of their shots, including going 4-for-10 (40 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Evangels dominated Nebraska Christian on the glass, outrebounding the Sentinels 65-41 with a 27-11 edge on the offensive glass.
Siliga tied her career-high 18 points on 8-for-10 from the field, matching her previous best set against Evangel on Nov. 1. On top of scoring 13 points, Fairley was one of three Evangels to record nine rebounds and Hernandez turned in a game-high five steals to go with her 13-point effort. Shannon rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Mid-America Christian will now prepare for its second exhibition game of the 2019-20 season as the Evangels will travel to Kansas City, Mo. on Friday, Dec. 6 for a 5:30 p.m. matchup against NCAA Division II Rockhurst.
