OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team will have a lot on the line in its final two games of the regular season as the Evangels are fighting for Sooner Athletic Conference seeding. The Evangels will host Central Christian for Senior Night inside the Gaulke Activity Center at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27 before heading to Langston to wrap up the regular season at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29.
LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (18-10, 10-8 SAC) is coming off a tough week, dropping a home matchup with No. 1 Oklahoma City 88-51 on Feb. 19 before heading on the road and falling 86-75 in overtime at Southwestern Christian on Feb. 21.
In the Oklahoma City game, MACU struggled against the Stars size as the Evangels scored a season-low 51 points on a season-worst 22.4 percent shooting clip. No Evangels broke into double-figures as Aaliyah Endsley, Lexi Hernandez and Alexis Shannon led MACU with nine points apiece.
Against Southwestern Christian, the Evangels struggled in the first half, taking a 32-25 deficit into the halftime break before MACU erupted for 27 points in the third quarter to take a 52-47 lead into the final period. The Evangels held a 64-60 edge with just over three minutes left before the Eagles rattled off eight of the next nine points to hold a 68-65 advantage with eight seconds left.
On MACU's final possession, senior forward Alexis Shannon drained a long, contested three-pointer from the left wing with 1.5 seconds left to lock up the score at 68 and send the game to overtime. However, in the OT period, the Evangels struggled to slow down a red-hot Southwestern Christian squad as the Eagles outscored MACU 18-7 in the extra session.
Shannon led MACU with 31 points on 10-for-19 shooting while going 3-for-7 from beyond the arc, 8-for-12 from the foul line and gathered eight rebounds, three assists and two steals in the loss.
SCOUTING THE LADY TIGERS
Central Christian makes its way into the week with a 7-19 overall record and a 3-15 mark in Sooner Athletic Conference play. The Lady Tigers were eliminated from SAC Tournament contention last week after suffering a pair of home losses to Texas Wesleyan by a score of 94-69 and Southwestern Assemblies of God, 74-65.
Senior guard Holly Golden leads the Central Christian offensive efforts, averaging 13 points per game, but is shooting just 30.1 percent from the field and 19.4 percent from the three-point arc. However, Golden does quite a bit of her scoring damage from the charity stripe, scoring 124 of her 325 points on the season from the foul line. Junior center Kassidy Forsberg is a big presence for the Lady Tigers in the paint, leading the team and ranking third in the SAC at 8.8 rebounds per game while blocking a team-best 26 shots.
Junior point guard Tania Lowe is the primary offensive catalyst, leading the team with 86 assists while also providing a spark on the defensive end with a squad-high 55 steals. Lowe is also the team's second-leading scorer at 10.3 ppg.
HISTORY WITH THE LADY TIGERS
During the NAIA era, Mid-America Christian is a perfect 12-0 against Central Christian as its last loss to the Lady Lions came in 2006, before joining the Sooner Athletic Conference. The last time the two teams faced each other in McPherson, Kan., the Evangels defense stifled Central Christian in the first half, holding the Lady Tigers to just 19 points before holding on for a 73-65 victory. Shannon led four Evangels in double-figures with 16 points and eight rebounds while sophomore guard Sydney Wycoff added 12 points and seven assists to go with six rebounds and four steals.
SCOUTING THE LADY LIONS
By holding an 11-13 overall record and a 7-11 mark against SAC competition, Langston is currently fighting for one of the last spots in the SAC Tournament. The Lady Lions can seal a spot with a win over Science & Arts or MACU or if John Brown falls at either Texas Wesleyan or Southwestern Assemblies of God. Last week, Langston split a pair of home games, topping SAGU in a 76-75 thriller before falling 91-73 to Texas Wesleyan on Feb. 21.
Saturday's contest will feature the two top scorers in the Sooner Athletic Conference as junior forward Asheika Alexander is the league's top scorer at 20.7 ppg while knocking down 45 percent of her shots from the field and 32 percent of her attempts from the three-point arc. Alexander is also the team's leading rebounder with 160 for a 7.0 rpg average while spearheading the defense with 53 steals.
Junior forward Talia Edwards has also provided a major spark since starting to see action on Jan. 16, averaging 13 ppg and 7.9 rpg while already taking the team's shot blocking lead with 17. The offense will run through junior forward Jailynn Lawson with a team-high 86 assists.
HISTORY WITH THE LADY LIONS
Mid-America Christian is 3-1 against Langston in the NAIA era and a perfect 3-0 since the Lady Lions joined the SAC prior to the start of the 2018-19 season. In their previous meeting back on Nov. 21, 2019, the Evangels dominated the first half, taking a 54-29 lead into the halftime break before holding on for an 87-71 win. Shannon led four Evangels in double-digits with 25 points on 10-of-17 from the field with four steals while Jessica Fairley chipped in 18 points and nine rebounds off the MACU bench.
SENIOR SENDOFF
On Thursday night, six seniors will be playing their final regular season home game inside the Gaulke Activity Center as Rachel Tapps, Nevada Denton, Loralei Siliga, Jessica Fairley, Avery Gregory, and Alexis Shannon make up the 2020 senior class. It is one of the most accomplished senior classes in the program's history. Denton, Fairley and Shannon in-particular are the only players in the history of the program to ever win multiple NCCAA National Championships while all three have set multiple program NAIA era Top 5 marks. Denton and Fairley, two four-year players with the program, could also be the first group of seniors in the last 20 years to be a part of four straight 20-win teams as the Evangels are just two wins away from reaching the 20-win plateau this season. The Senior Night presentation will take place immediately following the conclusion of the women's game.
SAC TOURNAMENT WATCH – CROSSING THE FINISH LINE
As the Evangels enter the final weekend of league play, they are in a contentious position as MACU is currently tied with Southwestern Christian for the No. 5 spot in the conference standings at 10-8, just a half-game back of Texas Wesleyan at 11-8. The Evangels can lock up the No. 4 spot in the SAC Tournament if they can win both games against Central Christian and Langston and if Southwestern Christian drops a game at either Oklahoma Panhandle State or No. 5 Wayland Baptist. If the Evangels finish in a tie for fourth with Texas Wesleyan, MACU would have the league tiebreaker over the Lady Rams, who close out with a home game against John Brown and barring any upsets that would knock Science & Arts out of the No. 3 spot in the league standings.
