OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team will wrap up the midway point of Sooner Athletic Conference play with a home meet-up with Southwestern Christian on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. before heading to face crosstown rival, No. 2 Oklahoma City at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (13-4, 6-2 SAC) split a home and away doubleheader last week, dropping an 80-64 decision at Texas Wesleyan on Jan. 16 before bouncing back with a thrilling 76-73 win over Southwestern Assemblies of God at the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday.
In the loss to the Lady Rams, the Evangels struggled to defend TWU's perimeter game as the Lady Rams made a program-record 15 three-pointers. Senior forward Alexis Shannon led MACU with 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting to go with six rebounds in defeat.
In the victory over the Lady Lions, the Evangels had their backs against the wall in the back-and-forth battle when SAGU's Lexi Rich got a steal and layup off an in-bound pass to give the Lady Lions an 83-82 edge with 15 seconds to go. On the ensuing possession, Shannon was able to draw a foul and converted a pair of clutch free throws to reclaim an 84-83 lead with 14 seconds left. On SAGU's final offensive possession, the Lady Lions got a couple of looks at a go-ahead bucket, but Loralei Siliga was able to come down with a defensive rebound, immediately drew a foul and put the Evangels up by three from the free throw line with three seconds left to seal the win.
Shannon once again was dominant, rattling off a team-high 24 points, 15 of which came in the third quarter on 8-of-17 from the field, 3-for-5 from the three-point arc and 5-of-6 from the foul line to go with eight rebounds and three steals. Junior guard Lexi Hernandez poured in a career-high 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting, going 3-of-5 from behind the three-point line and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe to go with a team-leading four steals.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Southwestern Christian makes its way into Thursday's matchup with a 12-4 overall record and a 4-4 mark in Sooner Athletic Conference play. Last week, the Eagles bounced back from a 69-42 loss at No. 2 Oklahoma City on Jan. 14 with a 75-59 win at home against John Brown on Jan. 16 before taking down Bacone in non-conference action by a score of 97-59 on Saturday.
The Eagles are the top scoring team in the SAC, averaging 81.8 points per game, ranking seventh in the NAIA. SCU is also the nation's best three-point shooting team, converting 40.4 percent of its opportunities.
Senior guard Kylee Vestal leads a balanced Eagles scoring lineup with 13.3 ppg on a 58.6 percent shooting percentage, including 45.5 percent from three and 94.1 percent from the foul line. Vestal is also team's top distributor with 48 assists and defender with 30 steals. Senior forward McKenna Morley leads SCU on the glass at 6.6 rebounds per game and is tied with the team-lead at eight blocks with junior forward Thamires Andrade.
HISTORY WITH THE EAGLES
Mid-America Christian is 11-7 against Southwestern Christian in the NAIA era and has been particularly successful as of late, winning nine of the last 10 games. The Evangels swept the season series last year, coming away with a 76-65 in on Jan. 5, 2019 in the Gaulke Activity Center before pulling out an 86-74 win in Bethany on Feb. 21, 2019. The two teams faced each other one more time in the NCCAA Central Region Championship game on Mar. 7, 2019, with MACU topping the Eagles 87-70 to advance to the NCCAA National Championship Tournament in Winona Lake, Ind.
SCOUTING THE STARS
Oklahoma City enters Thursday night's game at Science & Arts as one of only two undefeated teams in the NAIA, posting a 17-0 overall record and an 8-0 mark against SAC competition. Last week, the Stars picked up a dominant 67-42 win over Southwestern Christian on Jan. 14, before picking up a non-conference win over Bacone College by a score of 95-36 on Jan. 16. The Stars were challenged at John Brown last Saturday, but pulled away late for the 76-61 victory.
The Stars rank nationally in the top five in several major statistical categories, including being the NAIA's leader in scoring margin (25.5 ppg) and free throw percentage (78.5 percent). OCU ranks second nationally in field goal percentage (46.9 percent), second in assist/turnover ratio (1.47), second in assists per game (19.6), fourth in field goal percentage defense (32.4 percent), fifth in scoring defense (55.2 ppg) and fifth in three-point field goal percentage (37.6 percent).
OCU features two of the top six scorers in the league in sophomore center Abby Selzer and sophomore guard Mallory Lockhart. Selzer leads the squad on a 17.3 ppg scoring clip while converting an NAIA best 66.9 percent of her shots from the field as well as 75 percent of her free throw attempts. Lockhart averages 16.3 ppg while knocking down an SAC best 67-of-157 (42.7 percent) from downtown and 85.7 percent of her foul shots.
Senior guard Shamika Smith will run the point, leading the team with 68 assists and senior forward Brennyn Seagler leads the rebounding efforts at 6.8 rpg. On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore guard Erika Ankney is the team's leader with 30 steals while senior center Taylor Sylvester controls the paint with 38 blocked shots.
HISTORY WITH THE STARS
Mid-America Christian is still looking for its first win against the national powerhouse as Oklahoma City leads the series 27-0. In last season's meetings, the Stars won the first game at home 85-62 on Jan. 29, 2019 before coming away with a 76-58 win at the Gaulke Activity Center on Feb. 23, 2019.
GETTING MOHR OUT OF SHANNON
Entering Thursday night's contest against Southwestern Christian, senior forward Alexis Shannon is just 23 points away from tying Joie Mohr for the third-most career points in MACU history at 1567. The Noblesville, Ind. product has elevated her offensive prowess the last five games, averaging 23.6 ppg after averaging 17.8 ppg in the previous 12 contests. Shannon is currently the fifth-most prolific scorer in the NAIA, averaging 19.5 ppg.
FIGHTING BACK ON THE FOUL LINE
While the Evangels have struggled from the free throw line this season, MACU is hoping it turned a corner against Southwestern Assemblies of God on Saturday. As a team, the Evangels shot 24-for-26 (92.6 percent), which was by far and away their best performance from the foul line this season with the previous best being a 17-of-23 (73.9 percent) performance posted at Central Christian on Nov. 23, 2019. The last time MACU shot better than 90 percent from the foul line came in a 100-91 win over LSU Shreveport at the Oklahoma City Classic on Nov. 19, 2016. In that matchup, the Evangels knocked down 28-for-30 (93.3 percent) from the line.
