OKLAHOMA CITY – After a 68-day layoff, the Mid-America Christian women's basketball team had to shake off a slow start, but caught fire in the second quarter before cruising to a 97-71 victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) in the team's Sooner Athletic Conference opener on Thursday night inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
 

STAT LEADERS

• Lexi Hernandez – 22 PTS, 9-14 FG, 3-7 3FG, 7 STL, 5 AST, 3 REB
• Anna Kash – 19 PTS, 7-11 FG, 5-8 3FG, 4 REB, 2 STL
• Ossyana Ozoani – 12 PTS, 7 REB, 6-10 FG, 2 STL, 1 AST
• Sydney Wycoff – 4 PTS, 6 AST, 4 REB, 1 STL

 

GAME SUMMARY

• 1st Quarter
  • Both teams struggled out of the gate as neither team could score until Ossyana Ozoani put in a layup at the 8:36 mark for her first score of the 2020-21 season, giving MACU the early 2-0 edge.
  • The two teams exchanged five ties and four lead changes for the remainder of the quarter, but a pair of Tamera Derrough free throws with 59 seconds left gave SAGU the 16-14 advantage after one quarter of play.
• 2nd Quarter
  • McKenzi Lamer's corner triple on MACU's first possession of the second quarter started another exchange of seven leads and one tie over the next 3:35. Lamer put the Evangels up for good with a three-point bomb to put the Evangels back in-front, 24-22.
  • MACU quickly pushed its edge out to six behind a pair of Ozoani buckets, including a layup on the right side off a fantastic lob pass from Presley Payahsape before sinking an 18-foot jumper from the left elbow with 4:34 to go to set the score to 28-22.
  • SAGU's Lauren Baker briefly altered the run with a floating jumper on the ensuing possession with 4:19 to go, but that would be the Lady Lions final score of the half.
  • Mid-America Christian closed out the period with a 21-0 run over the final 4:02, limiting SAGU to 0-for-4 shooting while forcing six turnovers during that stretch to hold a commanding 49-24 lead at the halftime break.
• 3rd Quarter
  • The Evangels continued to dominate in the third quarter, stretching their advantage to 32 on a three from the right corner by Anna Kash, setting the score to 66-34 with 3:08 remaining.
  • Southwestern Assemblies of God strung together a 11-3 run to trim its deficit to 69-45 with just under a minute left.
  • Aaliyah Endsley was able to continue to add to her SAC leading free throw percentage with a pair of makes from the charity stripe with 28 seconds left to stop the SAGU run and push the lead back to 26 heading into the final quarter of play.
• 4th Quarter
  • The Lady Lions were able to utilize a string of five unanswered to close the gap to 21 at 76-55, but that would be the closest SAGU would cut into the Evangels' lead for the remainder of the contest.
  • Mid-America Christian extended the advantage back to 31 behind a pair of threes from Shelby Thrailkill as well as a Kyleigh Leverich triple during a 9-2 run to make it a 95-64 game with 1:26 remaining.
  • Southwestern Assemblies scored seven of the final nine points to close out the 97-71 final.

 

GAME NOTES                                        

• After shooting just 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from the field and 2-of-12 (16.7 percent) from three in the opening period, Mid-America Christian bounced back with a dominant final three quarters of play. The Evangels converted 35-of-53 (66 percent) from the floor and 14-for-28 (50 percent) from three in the last 30 minutes to close out with a 50 percent shooting clip and 40 percent rate from behind the arc.
• The Evangels defense limited SAGU to only 22-of-72 (30.6 percent) shooting and 9-for-34 (26.5 percent) from three while forcing the Lady Lions into committing 24 turnovers.  
• After starting off the contest just 1-for-6 from the field, senior guard Lexi Hernandez knocked down her last eight shots to finish with a game-high 22 points as well as dished out five assists.
• Hernandez also continued to make dents in the MACU record book on the defensive end with seven steals in the contest, tying the second-most in a single game during the NAIA era. The Canyon, Texas native broke the program's NAIA era record when she notched 10 thefts against Baptist Bible (Mo.) in a 116-31 home win back on Oct. 28.
• Anna Kash put together her most productive game of the season, tallying a season-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including going 5-for-8 from downtown to go with four rebounds. It was the sophomore guard's second-most productive offensive game of her career, placing behind her 22-point effort against Bacone (Okla.) last season on Feb. 1.
• After sustaining a pair of early season injuries, the Evangels got a pair of productive outings from senior forward Ossyana Ozoani and junior guard Sydney Wycoff with each competing in their first game of the season. Ozoani scored 12 points on 6-of-10 from the field and ripped down a team-high seven rebounds to go with a pair of steals. Wycoff distributed a team-high six assists and ripped down four boards along with scoring four points in her return from injury.
• Overall, five Evangels finished in double-figures: Hernandez (22), Kash (19), Presley Payahsape (13), Ozoani (12) and McKenzi Lamer (12).
• Mid-America Christian competed in its first contest of 2021 after a 68-day layoff that saw nine games get canceled or postponed between Nov. 13 and Jan. 20 due to COVID-19 concerns.

 

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will hit the road on Saturday for its first SAC road game of the season. The Evangels will take on Texas Wesleyan at the Sid Richardson Center in Fort Worth, Texas for a 1 p.m. tip-off.