OKLAHOMA CITY - Mid-America Christian University's Alexis Shannon has had a historic week. The junior forward from Noblesville, Indiana had already scored her 1,000th point in front of her home crowd on Thursday night, and on Saturday, she became the leading scorer in the NAIA era of MACU women's basketball.
Shannon put up a season-high 31 points as MACU (17-7, 11-7 SAC) powered their way to victory over the visiting Langston University Lady Lions (8-17, 3-14 SAC), 72-59.
It didn't take Shannon long to get going in the game. She scored MACU's first six points, and she had eight in the first quarter, but MACU had some trouble shaking off the pesky Lady Lions in the opening frame. Langston made six free throws in the opening stanza, converting two 3-point plays in the process, and late in the frame, they had an 18-17 lead. After a 3-point miss, though, Shaylan Coleman slashed her way into the paint and made a one-handed second chance floater just before the buzzer to give MACU the 19-18 lead after one period of play.
The Evangels stifled the Langston attack in the second frame, and MACU built a comfortable lead as a result. The Evangels held Langston to 1-for-9 shooting in the quarter with eight turnovers, and the Evangels outscored the Lady Lions 12-4 as a result, as MACU opened a 31-22 halftime edge.
LU scored the first five points in the third quarter, cutting the MACU lead to 31-27, and with 4:15 left in the frame, a 3-pointer pulled the Lady Lions within two at 39-37.Moments later, however, a 7-0 MACU run commenced, and the Evangels pushed their lead to 50-39 on their way to a 52-42 lead heading into the final frame. MACU never allowed Langston to get closer than seven in the final period, and the Evangels' lead swelled to as many as 14, and MACU cruised home with the 72-59 victory.
Shannon's huge night helped vault her into 7th place on the MACU career scoring list. She passed Sarai Rodriguez in the second quarter to take the NAIA-era scoring lead. Rodriguez scored 1,015 points in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons at MACU. She also eclipsed the career total of Kristi Stephenson, who racked up 1,025 points for coach Carol Fowlkes from 1997-2001. Shannon now has 1,032 career points, and it is possible for her to gain another couple of spots on the all time scoring list this season.
Coleman tallied 13 points, and Jennah Coffman added 12 in the game as well for MACU. Coleman added four assists, and Ossyana Ozoani grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
As a team, MACU made 26 of 66 (39.4%) field goal attempts, though they struggled from long range, hitting only 3 of 16 (18.8%) from deep. The Evangels also made 17 of 25 (68%) free throws in the game, and they forced 27 Langston turnovers.
MACU will host John Brown University (15-10, 11-7 SAC) in a crucial home game on Thursday, February 14. The teams are currently tied in the SAC standings, and JBU won the earlier meeting this season. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m.
