OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team put together a strong defensive performance in the second half, rallying from a five-point halftime deficit to topple John Brown 73-71 on Saturday afternoon at the Gaulke Activity Center.
Mid-America Christian (11-2, 4-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) trailed 45-40 at the half, but the Evangels clamped down in the second half, outscoring the Eagles 33-26 in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
With the win, the Evangels are off to their first 4-0 start in SAC play in the Hannah Moeller era as MACU's last 4-0 conference start came during the 2013-14 season when the Evangels opened the season with a 10-3 overall record before dropping its first SAC match at Oklahoma Baptist on Jan. 7, 2014.
Senior forward Alexis Shannon notched her 12th 30-point game of her career, scoring 30 points on 12-of-23 from the field, 3-for-8 from the three-point arc and knocked down 3-for-6 from the foul line to go with six rebounds and two assists.
Senior forward Loralei Siliga was the only other Evangel to crack double-figures, tallying 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting, 11 of which coming in the second half to go along with a team-high seven boards.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair that saw five lead changes and three ties as John Brown (4-9, 0-4 SAC) took the largest lead of the period on a Taylor Fergen three-pointer to set the score at 22-17, but the Evangels answered right back. Shannon buried a triple from the top of the key with six seconds remaining to close the gap to 22-20 at the end of one period of play.
The Evangels briefly took the lead early in the second quarter as Rachel Tapps stole the inbound pass and kicked it out to an open Lexi Hernandez on the left side off the drive, dropping a three-point bomb just 30 seconds in.
However, JBU right answered back with eight unanswered to reclaim a 30-23 advantage with 6:58 remaining until the halftime break.
The Eagles built its lead to as much as eight on an Ally Teague layup, setting the score to 42-34 with 2:38 left but MACU managed to trim the deficit to 45-40, closing out the half on a Shannon lay-in.
The Noblesville, Ind. native scored 22 of her 30 points in the first 20 minutes, going 8-for-15 and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, but the Evangels as a team could only muster a 40-percent shooting percentage on 14-for-35 from the field and 5-for-15 from three.
John Brown shot a torrid pace from the three-point arc in the first half, going 11-for-20 (55 percent) from beyond the arc and 15-for-30 (50 percent) as a whole from the field.
Mid-America Christian's defense started taking control in the early portions of the third quarter, limiting the Eagles to just five points through the first six minutes as a pair of Jessica Fairley free throws with 4:05 on the clock gave MACU a 51-50 lead, its first advantage since the 3:41 mark in the first quarter.
The two teams were locked in a tug-of-war for the lead over the final four minutes with the advantage trading places two more times before JBU's Jessica Goldman buried a triple with 1:22 remaining to send the Eagles into the fourth period with a 56-55 edge.
The two teams traded blows through the early portions of the fourth quarter until Tarrah Stephens bucket tied the score at 60 with 5:54 remaining, but Siliga elevated the Evangels with a three from the top of the key on the ensuing possession and Tapps added to it with a triple from the corner with 5:03 left to give MACU its largest lead of the game at 66-60.
MACU pushed its advantage to seven on a Shannon layup with 3:08 remaining, but the Eagles had one last push left in them over the final stretch. JBU rattled off six unanswered over the next two minutes, capped off on a Jordyn Martin three-point play with 1:06 to go to close the gap to 72-71.
Fairley converted one of two foul shots with 37 seconds left to extend the lead to two, but the Evangels were able to come up with a huge defensive stop after giving up an offensive rebound as Stephens' contested buzzer beater from the free throw line fell short to allow MACU to come away with the victory.
The Evangels defense made some strong second half adjustments, forcing JBU into shooting just 8-for-33 (24.2 percent), including 3-for-22 (13.6 percent) from three while remaining consistent on the offensive end, gunning 12-for-30 (40 percent) from the field in their own right.
Tapps dished out a career-high seven assists to go along with six points while junior guard Aaliyah Endsley recorded her third consecutive three-plus steal game with a trio of thefts and a block on the defensive end.
Mid-America Christian will now prepare for one of its toughest road trips of the season as the Evangels will take on No. 6 Wayland Baptist in Plainview, Texas at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9 before heading to Oklahoma Panhandle State for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday, Jan. 11.
