OKLAHOMA CITY – With the Mid-America Christian women's basketball team going 3-0 last week to extend its winning streak to seven games, MACU Head Coach Hannah Moeller was named the WHoopDirt.com NAIA Coach of the Week on Tuesday.
Mid-America Christian (11-2, 4-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) opened the week with a hard-fought 64-61 victory over Kansas Wesleyan at the Gaulke Activity Center on New Year's Eve. A layup by Aaliyah Endsley at the 9:12 mark in the fourth quarter gave MACU its largest lead of the game at 53-39, but the talented Coyotes squad was able to chip its way back into the game to make it a one-score game before the Evangels made a big defensive stop on the final possession to come away with the win.
Senior forward Loralei Siliga led MACU with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting while Alexis Shannon recorded a double-double with 13 rebounds and 10 points.
The Evangels followed it up with a strong performance at Bacone College on Thursday, Jan. 2, as MACU defeated the Braves 85-48. After playing a tightly contested first quarter, the Evangels dominated BC in the second period by outscoring the Braves 28-3 to take a 42-14 lead into the halftime break.
Shannon was sharp in the contest, scoring 17 points on 7-of-10 from the field, including 7-of-8 on two-point attempts and went 3-for-4 from the foul line to go with 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes of action. Junior guard Lexi Hernandez also pitched in 16 points on 6-of-9 from the floor and went 4-for-7 from three-point range.
MACU wrapped up the week with a hard-fought 73-71 comeback victory over John Brown at the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday. The Evangels trailed by as much as eight and took a 45-40 deficit into the halftime break, but after giving up 11-of-20 (55 percent) from three in the first half, the MACU defense made some strong adjustments at the break. The Evangels held the Golden Eagles to just 8-for-33 (24.2 percent) shooting in the second half, including 3-for-22 (13.6 percent) from three while coming up with another huge defensive stop on the final possession of the game.
Tying her season-high scoring output, Shannon led the Evangels with 30 points on 12-of-23 shooting to go with six rebounds. It was the eighth 30-plus point output by the senior forward from Noblesville, Ind. since joining the team prior to the start of the 2017-18 season.
With the win over John Brown, MACU is off to its first 4-0 start in SAC play under Moeller with the last 4-0 conference start coming during the 2013-14 season. The Evangels are also off to their first 11-2 start to the season since the 2016-17 season.
By receiving one of the weekly awards, Moeller is now eligible for the WHoopsDirt.com Coach of the Year awarded at the end of the season. It is the first time in Moeller's four years at MACU that she has received the website's weekly honor.
Mid-America Christian will return to action on Thursday at 6 p.m. as the Evangels will head to Plainview, Texas for one of its toughest road contests of the season at No. 6 Wayland Baptist. MACU will then head to Goodwell, Okla. for a 2 p.m. matchup with Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday, Jan. 11.
