OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team got its 2020-21 season started off on a high note on Friday evening at the Gaulke Activity Center as the Evangels were able to pull out a 102-93 victory against Oklahoma Wesleyan.

 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Presley Payahsape – 20 PTS, 5-10 FG, 5-6 3FG
• Lexi Hernandez – 19 PTS, 6-10 FG, 3-5 3FG, 4-4 FT, 6 REB, 3 AST, 3 STL, 1 BLK
• Shelby Kraus – 17 PTS, 7-10 FG, 10 REB, 1 BLK, 1 STL
• Aaliyah Endsley – 14 PTS, 3-7 FG, 8-8 FT, 5 AST

 
GAME SUMMARY

• 1^st Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian (1-0) was lights out to start, opening the quarter with a 10-0 run behind a Shelby Kraus and-one as well as scores by Anna Kash and Aaliyah Endsley before being capped on a Presley Payahsape three with 7:49 to go.
  • Another Payahsape triple with 2:14 on the clock extended the MACU lead to 16 at 26-10. However, Oklahoma Wesleyan was able to whittle the Evangels advantage down to 32-20 on Danae Godwin's three-pointer with three seconds left.
• 2^nd Quarter
  • The Eagles managed to keep the game to within single-digits after back-to-back threes made it a 35-28 game, but MACU was able to hold the Eagles from climbing any closer for the remainder of the half.
  • Holding an eight-point leading heading into the final 30 seconds, the Evangels were able to head into the locker room with the momentum thanks to a pull-up midrange jumper from the elbow by Lexi Hernandez with 30 seconds left. After forcing a turnover on the other end, Kyleigh Leverich was able to drive the lane and dish to an open Aneli Thomsen for a left-handed layup at the buzzer to extend the MACU advantage to 54-42.
• 3^rd Quarter
  • Oklahoma Wesleyan captured the early momentum in the second half by scoring 10 of the first 11, trimming the MACU edge to 55-52 with 7:26 remaining.
  • The Evangels swung back with a 9-1 run with seven of the points coming from Hernandez to push the lead back to 64-53 with 5:22 remaining.
  • Mid-America Christian closed out the quarter with a string of six unanswered, closed out on a Hernandez three-point bomb with six second left to make a 76-62 game heading into the final quarter of play.
• 4^th Quarter
  • The Evangels built their largest lead of the game midway through the quarter following another Hernandez three, a Thompson layup and a Payahsape free throw with 5:32 remaining to set the score to 87-69.
  • The Eagles clawed their way back, shrinking the MACU advantage down to six at 94-88 with 1:16 to go.
  • Endsley and Leverich were able to secure the Evangels victory from the free throw line in the final minute as Endsley went 4-for-4 from the charity stripe while Leverich drained a pair with 12 seconds remaining to seal the 102-93 victory.

 
GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian shot lights out by going 31-for-60 (51.7 percent) from the field and 12-for-25 (48 percent) from the three-point arc while also knocking down a solid 28-for-39 (71.8 percent) from the foul line. The Eagles finished the game by shooting 34-for-78 (43.6 percent), 15-for-40 (37.5 percent) from three and 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) from the charity stripe.
• The Evangels slightly won the rebounding battle by a 40-39 edge while the two teams evenly split the turnover battle at 14 apiece.
• MACU had six players finish in double-figure scoring and had seven players score at least eight points.
• Junior forward Presley Payahsape was lights out in her Evangels debut, as the NCAA Division II Northwestern Oklahoma transfer scored a game-high 20 points while draining a blistering 5-for-6 from the three-point arc.
• Shelby Kraus and McKenzi Lamer also broke double-figures in their MACU debuts. A true freshman forward from Westmoore High School, Kraus notched a double-double in her first collegiate game with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go with 10 boards. Lamer, another NWOSU transfer, tallied 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
• Playing each other for the first time in 12 years, the Evangels won their fourth straight against the Eagles. MACU's last win against OKWU came on Feb. 18, 2009 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The Evangels have won four straight in the series dating back to 2004.

 
NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will face one of its toughest home tests of the season on Thursday, Nov. 4 as the Evangels will host the No. 2 team in the country in Wayland Baptist for a 6 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center.