OKLAHOMA CITY – The Sooner Athletic Conference announced its 2019-20 SAC Women's Basketball Scholar-Athletes on Wednesday afternoon as seven student-athletes from Mid-America Christian University were selected to the esteemed list.
To receive SAC Scholar-Athlete honors, a player must be a junior or above by academic standing with at least a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average, appear on the eligibility certificate for an NAIA-recognized sport and have either attended two full years as a non-transfer or one full year as a transfer.
"I am always impressed by how hard our players work in the classroom while still fully committing themselves to being great players," said MACU Head Coach Hannah Moeller. "It's really fun to celebrate their accomplishments off the court. I am incredibly grateful to work on a campus where so many people work intentionally to provide academic support for our players."
Alexis Shannon, who received her Bachelor's of Science Degree in Psychology in May and is now the Graduate Assistant Coach for the 2020-21 season highlighted the class after completing one of the most profound careers in the history of the program while graduating with a cumulative GPA of 3.53.
Shannon wrapped up her MACU career as the program's second all-time leading scorer with 1853 points, the record mark during the NAIA era (2007-present) while also holding NAIA era career records in rebounds (757), field goals made (702), field goals attempted (1486), free throws made (345) and free throws attempted (503).
The Noblesville, Indiana native also set NAIA era marks for the third-most steals (146), the fourth-best field goal percentage (47.2) and the fifth-most assists (188).
The three-time NCCAA First Team All-American and NAIA All-American Honorable Mention athlete is coming off her best season in an Evangels uniform, scoring the third-most points in the NAIA with 641 (20 ppg) while knocking down a career-high 44 three-pointers and tying her career-best assist mark with 66.
In a 99-50 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State at the Gaulke Activity Center on Feb. 6, Shannon scored a career-high 33 points to eclipse Christina Schmidt for second on MACU's all-time scoring list.
Shannon helped lead the Evangels to back-to-back NCCAA Division I National Championships in 2018 and 2019 and guided MACU to a fourth-straight NCCAA National Championship Tournament berth, but the 2020 NCCAA tourney was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earning SAC Scholar-Athlete accolades for the second year in a row, senior Nevada Denton also graduated from MACU this spring with a 3.94 GPA, earning her Bachelor's of Science Degree in Biology and is now looking to attend med school.
The Blanchard, Oklahoma product unfortunately missed nearly her entire senior campaign due to suffering a season-ending knee injury prior to the start of the 2019-20 season, but Denton did start and score the opening bucket of the game in a 114-73 win over Central Christian on Senior Night inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Feb. 27.
The 5-9 guard wrapped up her MACU career with 933 points, ranking sixth for career scoring in the NAIA era while also setting several career top five marks, including the third-best mark for free throws made (224) on the fourth-best percentage (78.9) as well as the fourth-best mark for blocks (40) and made the fifth-most threes (119) on the fifth-best percentage (36.7).
A junior guard from Canyon, Texas, Lexi Hernandez earned SAC Scholar-Athlete honors after posting a 3.85 GPA while double-majoring in Biology and Psychology.
The three-point sharpshooter finished the 2019-20 season as the team's second-leading scorer with 375 points (11.7 ppg) while knocking down a team-leading 82 three-point shots, the fifth-most in a single season in the NAIA era while also leading the team defensively with 51 steals.
Hernandez scored a career-high 24 points in an 83-75 victory at John Brown on Jan. 30, going 8-for-12 from the field as well as 5-for-8 from the three-point arc. In an 80-75 win over Texas Wesleyan in the SAC Quarterfinal on Mar. 3, Hernandez scored 22 points on 8-of-14 from the field and 3-for-7 from downtown.
Ossyana Ozoani made the scholar-athlete list after completing her junior season with a 3.88 GPA while majoring in Biology at MACU.
Despite missing a third of the season due to injury, the 5-10 forward from Oklahoma City still finished fourth on the team in rebounds (147) on the second-best rebounding clip (6.1 rpg) while also averaging 7.1 ppg. Ozoani also recorded 35 steals on the second-best steals per game clip on the team (1.5).
In an 85-48 victory at Bacone on Jan. 2, Ozoani ripped down a season-high 13 rebounds, just one shy of her career-best mark. Ozoani scored a season-high 12 points on three different occasions over the course of the season, the first coming at Oklahoma City on Jan. 25.
A junior academically, but a sophomore athletically, Sydney Wycoff finished the 2019-20 academic year with a 3.71 GPA with a double major in Biology and Psychology.
Despite missing almost half the season due to injury, the Ankeny, Iowa native was still able to make a major impact when she was able to see the court, finishing with 43 assists on a 2.4 apg clip while also averaging 1.4 steals per contest.
The 5-6 guard scored a season-high 18 points while helping lead the Evangels to an 80-71 victory over NCAA Division II Oklahoma Christian at the Gaulke Activity Center on Nov. 5. On Nov. 16 against Philander Smith, Wycoff ripped down a career-high 11 rebounds and in the season-opening win over Manhattan Christian on Oct. 25, she dished out a season-high seven assists to go with 11 points and seven rebounds.
A senior from Lubbock, Texas, Avery Gregory was selected after graduating from MACU with a Bachelor's Degree in Digital Marketing with a GPA of 3.73. The 5-9 forward saw action in 23 games during the 2019-20 season, finishing the campaign with 55 points, 49 rebounds and shot 47.7 percent from the field.
In MACU's record-setting 130-39 victory over Manhattan Christian in the season-opener, Gregory scored a season-high 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and ripped down three rebounds to go with two steals.
Rounding out the honorees is Shelby Thrailkill, a junior from Norman, Oklahoma. The 5-4 guard is a Biology major at Mid-America Christian who has thus far put together a cumulative GPA of 3.86.
Thrailkill saw action in 13 games during the 2019-20 season, scoring a season-high five points in a 79-53 win at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Jan. 11.
To view the complete list of MACU's Scholar-Athlete recipients, check out the list below.
SAC Women's Basketball Scholar-Athletes
Nevada Denton
Avery Gregory
Lexi Hernandez
Ossyana Ozoani
Alexis Shannon
Shelby Thrailkill
Sydney Wycoff
