OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team will be gunning for its first Sooner Athletic Conference championship this weekend as the Evangels will take on the top-seeded and No. 1 ranked team in the NAIA, Oklahoma City in the Semifinal round at the Hutcherson Center in Plainview, Texas on Friday.
If the Evangels can stun the Stars after their 1 p.m. tip on Friday, MACU would play the winner of the No. 2 seed Wayland Baptist/No. 3 seed Science & Arts semifinal on Saturday at 1 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
Fourth-seeded Mid-America Christian (21-10) took care of business in the SAC Quarterfinal on Tuesday, holding off No. 5 seed Texas Wesleyan 80-75 inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
In that matchup, Texas Wesleyan was able to cut the MACU lead to three with just over two minutes left, but Lexi Hernandez came up with two pivotal plays down the stretch, knocking down a layup with 1:48 to go and after forcing a turnover, converted a pair of free throws to extend the Evangels edge to seven. MACU never led by less than five the rest of the way to survive and advance.
Senior forward Alexis Shannon and Hernandez combined to score 50 of MACU's 80 points in the contest as Shannon tallied a team-high 28 points on 10-for-17 shooting and 7-of-9 from the foul line to go with seven rebounds while Hernandez notched 22 points on 8-of-14 from the floor, 3-for-7 from three and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.
SCOUTING THE STARS
Oklahoma City will enter the Sooner Athletic Conference Semifinal with a 29-1 record after winning a share of the SAC Title with No. 2 seed Wayland Baptist after both teams finished 19-1 in league play. In the quarterfinal round, the Stars struggled on the offensive end against No. 8 seed Langston, but were able to clamp down defensively on the Lady Lions by holding LU to a season-low 47 points for a 69-47 win.
OCU is led by the SAC Player of the Year in sophomore center Abby Selzer, who leads the Stars offensive efforts at 17.7 points per game on a 63.5 percent shooting percentage, the third-best clip in the NAIA. Selzer has also done a lot of damage from the free throw line this season, making 123-of-157 (78.3 percent) of her attempts while ripping down 6.6 rebounds per game.
Senior forward Brennyn Seagler leads the Stars on the glass with 198 rebounds at 7.3 rpg, the sixth-best clip in the SAC. On top of being the squad's best rebounder, Seagler is also a strong catalyst on the offensive end, dishing out the third-most assists in the SAC with 123 while senior guard Shamika Smith ranks fifth in the league with 112 assists.
Defensively, the Stars senior center Taylor Sylvester is the league's second-best shot blocker with 85, averaging 2.8 per game. Sophomore guard Erika Ankney is the squad's top defender with a team-leading 58 steals, the fifth most in the SAC.
HISTORY WITH THE STARS
If Mid-America Christian can pull off the upset, it will be the Evangels first win over Oklahoma City in the NAIA era. The Stars have won the previous 29 meetings since 2007, including sweeping the season series 82-64 at OCU on Jan. 25 before pulling out an 88-51 inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Feb. 20.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Mid-America Christian will be seeking a lot of firsts in this year's SAC Championships. Not only are the Evangels seeking their first win over Oklahoma City, they are also seeking their first win in the SAC Semifinals. It is the fifth time the Evangels are competing in the SAC Semifinal, but have come up short of making the championship in the four previous appearances. The closest MACU has ever come to advancing to the SAC Championship came on Mar. 4, 2016, as the Evangels rallied from a 14-point fourth quarter deficit to nearly stun Oklahoma City, but Aaliyah Spatafora's potential game-winning three missed at the buzzer as the Stars held on for the 87-85 win.
TAPPING INTO HER POTENTIAL
After suffering an 86-75 overtime loss at Southwestern Christian on Feb. 22, the Evangels seem to be reinvigorated by winning three straight. A big piece of that MACU win streak has been the improved play of senior guard Rachel Tapps. In the last three games, the Houston, Texas native is averaging a double-double at 12.2 ppg and 10.6 rpg and narrowly missed a double-double in the SAC Quarterfinal with nine points and 10 rebounds.
