OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball is preparing to face three opponents over the next six days, as the Evangels host Science & Arts on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Gaulke Activity Center and will head to John Brown on Thursday, Jan. 30 for a 6 p.m. matchup. MACU will wrap-up the week at home with a non-conference matchup with Bacone College at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (14-5, 7-3 Sooner Athletic Conference) wrapped up the first half of conference play with a home and away split, taking down Southwestern Christian 93-84 on Jan. 23 in the Gaulke Activity Center before dropping a hard-fought 82-64 decision at No. 2 Oklahoma City on Saturday.
In the victory over the Eagles, the Evangels got off to a strong start, outscoring SCU 26-9 in the opening period. MACU built as much as a 26-point lead over Southwestern Christian in the second half before the Eagles caught fire in the fourth quarter. After scoring just 44 points in the first three quarters, SCU rattled off 39 in the fourth on 14-for-23 (60.9 percent) shooting, including 8-for-12 (66.7 percent) from three, but the Evangels were able told off the comeback by not allowing SCU to break single-digits until the final minute to secure the victory.
MACU gave the second-ranked Oklahoma City Stars a tough challenge on its home court as a Lexi Hernandez three-point buzzer beater just before the half kept the Evangels just down one, 35-34 at the break. Another Hernandez triple gave the Evangels a lead at 39-37 with 8:31 to go in the third period, but MACU struggled to slow down OCU forward Abby Selzer over the final 18 minutes as the Stars managed to pull away late in the contest.
SCOUTING THE DROVERS
Science & Arts enters Tuesday night's contest with an 11-7 overall record and holds a 6-4 mark against SAC competition. Last week, the Drovers dropped a pair of SAC matchups, including an 82-74 affair at home against No. 2 Oklahoma City before falling at Southwestern Christian, 81-69 on Saturday.
USAO is one of the best shot blocking teams in the nation, ranking second in the NAIA with 56 blocked shots while also ranking third in assist/turnover ratio at 1.27.
The Drovers are led offensively and defensively by last week's NAIA Player of the Week, Reyna Ammons. The senior guard is averaging 18.6 points per game on a 48.8 percent shooting clip while also ranking ninth in the nation in total steals with 67. Senior center Ndeye Khade Sene controls the paint with a team-leading 163 rebounds (9.1 rpg), the third-best clip in the SAC while also leading the conference in blocked shots with 56 (3.1 bpg). Junior guard Kaitlyn Johnson tops the SAC in assists, notching 88 (4.9 apg) so far this season.
HISTORY WITH THE DROVERS
Mid-America Christian holds a 16-11 lead over Science & Arts since joining the Sooner Athletic Conference in 2007. The Evangels were able to snap a three-game losing streak to the Drovers back on Dec. 13, 2019 in Chickasha, Okla., as MACU went into the USAO Fieldhouse and came away with a 75-73 overtime victory. Senior forward Loralei Siliga tied a career-high 19 points in the win, including knocking down a career-best 3-for-5 from the three-point arc to go with a team-best nine rebounds. Alexis Shannon also chipped in 17 points, including going 11-for-15 from the foul line and dished out a team-high six assists.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
John Brown enters the week with a 6-13 record, going 2-8 through the first half of SAC play. Last week, the Golden Eagles split a pair of road games, dropping an 89-59 matchup at No. 6 Wayland Baptist before bouncing back with a 69-56 win at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday.
The Golden Eagles host one of the nation's top three-point shooting teams, ranking fourth in the NAIA in made three-pointers per game (9.4). Leading JBU on the offensive and defensive ends is Tarrah Stephens. The freshman forward is averaging 13.4 ppg and 6.1 rpg while also commanding the team lead with 30 blocks and 22 steals. Junior guard Taylor Fergen will run the point for JBU as she leads the squad with 81 assists, averaging 4.3 apg.
HISTORY WITH THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Since MACU joined the SAC, John Brown holds a slight 16-12 edge in the series. The last time the two teams met back on Jan. 4, the Evangels had to fight back from a 45-40 halftime deficit to come away with the 73-71 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center. John Brown had the chance for the game-winner on the final possession, but the Evangels were able to get a big defensive stop as time expired to come away with the win. Alexis Shannon helped lead the comeback efforts with a season-high 30 points on 12-of-23 shooting, including going 3-for-8 from beyond the arc.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Bacone enters the week with a 2-15 overall record. Competing in three games last week, the Warriors won their second game of the season by a score of 76-58 at Ozark Christian before falling 86-54 at Oklahoma Panhandle State and 108-41 at No. 6 Wayland Baptist.
Freshman forward Kamryn Genry is the lone Warrior averaging double-figures, scoring 10.3 ppg while leading the rebounding efforts at 9.4 rpg as well as posting a team-high 14 blocks. Freshman forward Charlee Bushyhead is the squad's top distributor with 21 assists while freshman guard Haylee Quickbear leads the defensive efforts with a team-best 23 steals.
HISTORY WITH THE BRAVES
Mid-America Christian is 10-1 against their former Sooner Athletic Conference rival and will be facing the Braves for the second time this season after posting an 85-48 win in Muskogee, Okla. back on Jan. 2. In the win, Alexis Shannon led the Evangels with a double-double, tallying 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and went 3-for-4 from the foul line to go with 10 rebounds. Lexi Hernandez notched 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and knocked down 4-for-7 from behind the three-point arc.
STARTING TO KASH IN
Freshman guard Anna Kash has been one of the Evangels top offensive producers off the bench during the month of January. The 5-7 guard from Bentonville, Ark. has reached double-figures in four of the last six games after reaching the double-digit mark once in the first 13 games, that being an 11-point outing in the season-opener against Manhattan Christian on Oct. 25. Last week at No. 2 Oklahoma City, Kash scored a career-high 16 points, going 5-for-13, including 3-of-8 from the three and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Kash saw significant time off the bench last week. After playing more than 20 minutes in just one game in the previous 17 matchups, Kash saw 21 minutes of action in the win over Southwestern Christian and 23 at Oklahoma City.
THREE'S COMPANY
In a 26-point performance against Southwestern Christian last week, senior forward Alexis Shannon moved into third all-time in MACU history in career scoring, surpassing Joie Mohr's career-points mark of 1567. Currently with 1575 points, the forward from Noblesville, Ind. now has her sights set on Kristina Schmidt's second all-time mark of 1656. Despite being held to her lowest scoring output of the season at No. 2 Oklahoma City, Shannon currently ranks fifth in the NAIA in total scoring with 363 points on the season and seventh in scoring average at 19.1 ppg.
