OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team erupted from behind the three-point arc in its 106-44 win over Bacone College at the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday.
Mid-America Christian knocked down 18 triples, the second-most in a single game during the NAIA era. Since joining the Sooner Athletic Conference in 2007, the only time the Evangels made more three-pointers in a game came on Mar. 3, 2016 in an 84-58 victory over Southwestern Christian in the Quarterfinal round of the SAC Tournament.
Freshman guard Anna Kash was a major contributor to the three-point outburst as the Bentonville, Ark. product scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-18 shooting, going 4-of-8 from three and 4-for-5 from the charity stripe.
Senior forward Jessica Fairley added 19 points on 6-for-7 from the field and a season-best 5-of-6 from behind the arc while Lexi Hernandez dropped four triples on eight attempts while knocking down 5-for-10 from the field and 4-of-4 from the foul line for 18 points.
Mid-America Christian (16-6) struggled to get separation early from Bacone (2-17) as the Warriors kept it to within one at 7-6 through the first 4:03.
The Evangels gained some breathing room with six unanswered as Kash and Hernandez each knocked down a pair of free throws before Kash ended the run with a baseline jumper off an Ossyana Ozoani offensive rebound with 5:15 to go to extend the MACU lead to 13-6.
Bacone's Madison Slinkley knocked down a three to briefly stop the run, but Evangels built its first double-digit advantage as Hernandez splashed a three to start a string of six unanswered followed by an Ozoani layup and a Kash free throw to make it 19-9 with 2:09 remaining.
Following a Bacone score, layups by Kash and Rachel Tapps extended the MACU edge to 23-11 after one quarter of play.
After a pair of Paula Yellowboy free throws 1:32 in brought the score to 27-16, Mid-America Christian went on an immaculate run.
A three-pointer by Alexis Shannon from the corner with 7:17 left ignited a 21-0 run over a 6:31 stretch. Fairley capped the run with a three from the left side with 1:08 remaining as a pair of Bacone free throws with 48 seconds on the clock ended the drought and sent MACU into the half with a 48-18 advantage.
Mid-America Christian shot 16-for-31 (51.6 percent) from the field in the opening half, going 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from three and 8-for-10 (80 percent) from the charity stripe while Bacone was limited to just 6-for-25 (24 percent) shooting and 2-for-8 (25 percent) from three.
The Warriors were able to get a little bit more of an offensive flow against the Evangels defense in the third quarter, but the Evangels stepped up their offensive game even more. MACU outscored Bacone 30-19 in the period, notching its 30 points on 11-for-18 (61.1 percent) shooting, including 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) from three to take a 78-37 edge into the fourth quarter.
The Evangels clamped down defensively in the final period of play, holding the Warriors to just seven points on 3-for-11 (27.3 percent) from the field, including 0-for-7 from beyond the arc in the final 10 minutes to seal the 106-44 victory.
Mid-America Christian finished the game by shooting 36-for-67 (53.7 percent) from the floor, its third-best offensive performance of the season while the 18-of-33 (54.5 percent) clip from three was the second-best percentage from beyond the arc this season.
Fairley, Hernandez and Ozoani led the MACU rebounding efforts with five apiece while Fairley also led the team in assists with four.
On the defensive side of the ball, Ozoani tallied a team-high five steals while Hernandez also pitched in with four thefts.
Mid-America Christian will return to SAC play next week as the Evangels will be back at home on Thursday, Feb. 6 to take on Oklahoma Panhandle State for a 6 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
