OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team sent out its six graduating seniors in-style as the Evangels scored the fifth-most points in a single game in the NAIA era to defeat Central Christian 114-73 during Senior Night on Thursday, Feb. 27.
In her final regular season game inside the Gaulke Activity Center, Mid-America Christian's (19-10, 11-8 Sooner Athletic Conference) second all-time leading scorer Alexis Shannon led the way with 29 points on 8-for-11 shooting, including 3-for-3 from three-point range and went 10-for-14 from the free throw line to go with seven rebounds and five assists.
Senior forward Jessica Fairley also had a night to remember, finishing just two points shy of her career-high with 25 points on 9-for-15 from the field and 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. Senior guard Rachel Tapps turned in one of her finest performances of the season with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting and 5-for-6 from the three-point arc to go with a career-best 12 rebounds and six assists.
Making her only appearance after sustaining a season-ending knee injury at the beginning of the year, senior forward Nevada Denton got the start and scored the Evangels first bucket with 9:44 on the clock to tie the game.
Central Christian's (7-20, 3-16 SAC) Cheyenne Marshall knocked down a three to keep it close at 7-5 with 7:20 left, but the Evangels rattled off nine unanswered to build a 16-5 advantage with 4:34 to go in the first quarter.
After the Lady Tigers trimmed the MACU lead down to eight moments later, a Shannon offensive rebound and put-back with 2:48 remaining jumpstarted another string of nine straight, capped off on another Shannon score off an offensive board expanded the Evangels lead to 27-10 with 1:03 to play.
The Lady Tigers snapped the streak by scoring the final three points of the period to make it a 27-13 game after one quarter of play.
Following a Shannon jumper just inside the three-point arc at the 9:02 mark, Central Christian scored nine of the next 11 points to close its gap to 31-22 with 5:52 left to go until half.
The two teams traded the next six points from the free throw line to make it an 11-point game before the Evangels blew the game open on back-to-back threes by Fairley and Shannon to bring the score to 41-24 with 3:30 remaining.
Mid-America Christian continued to pull away over the remainder of the quarter as Aaliyah Endsley scored the Evangels' last six points in the final 54 seconds on a three from the top of the key followed by a powerful drive to the basket for a layup and the foul with 17 seconds on the clock to make it a 49-28 game at the halftime break.
In the first half, the Evangels shot 16-for-37 (43.2 percent) from the floor and 5-for-15 (33.3 percent) from the three-point arc while knocking down 12-for-17 (70.6 percent) from the foul line. The MACU defense stifled the Lady Tigers in the first half, holding CCC to just 9-for-34 (26.5 percent) shooting and 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) from three while outrebounding Central Christian 30-19 and forcing 11 Lady Tigers turnovers.
MACU continued to pull away to start the second half as a Tapps three and Fairley three-point play quickly brought the Evangels' advantage to 55-28 just a minute into the third period.
The Lady Tigers clawed away at the MACU lead, shrinking it down to 20 at 61-41 with 6:52 to go, but the Evangels quickly pushed it back out to 27 on an Avery Gregory layup, an Endsley three and a pair of Shannon free throws to make it 68-41 with 5:19 left.
With less than three minutes to go in the third quarter, the Evangels rattled off nine straight as Tapps three from the top of the key with 58 seconds remaining expanded the MACU advantage to 83-47 before a last second score by Central Christian sent the Evangels into the fourth period with a 34-point edge.
Mid-America Christian was relentless in the final quarter, building as large as a 51-point lead on a Fairley layup to bring the score to 112-61 before the Lady Tigers ended the game with a 12-2 run to close out MACU's 114-73 victory.
MACU scored its 65 second half points on a blazing 22-for-38 (57.9 percent) shooting from the floor and 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) from three while knocking down an efficient 13-for-18 (72.2 percent) from the charity stripe.
Ossyana Ozoani rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Evangels, finishing just a board shy of a double-double with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting and 4-for-4 from the foul line to go with nine rebounds and a team-leading three steals.
After the completion of the contest, MACU honored its six graduating seniors: Nevada Denton, Jessica Fairley, Avery Gregory, Alexis Shannon, Loralei Siliga and Rachel Tapps.
By getting the win, Mid-America Christian kept to within a half-game of Texas Wesleyan for the No. 4 spot in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings. If the Evangels can get a win at Langston on Saturday, coupled with a Southwestern Christian loss at No. 5 Wayland Baptist, MACU can lock up the No. 4 seed as the Evangels hold the tiebreaker over the Lady Rams.
That pivotal season finale against the Lady Lions will take place on Saturday, Feb. 29 as the Evangels will tip-off at 2 p.m. inside the C.F. Gayles Fieldhouse.
