Women's Basketball 1/25/2021 1:49:00 PM Adam Stanek - MACU Sports Information

Women’s Basketball Set To Take On Science & Arts, John Brown

OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off its first two Sooner Athletic Conference wins of the season, the Mid-America Christian women's basketball team will face another tough road challenge on Tuesday night when the Evangels travel to Chickasha, Oklahoma on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. tip-off against Science & Arts. The Evangels will return home on Thursday night for a 6 p.m. matchup against John Brown.

LAST TIME OUT
Mid-America Christian (5-1, 2-0 SAC) had to overcome an 11-point second half deficit, but the Evangels were able to clamp down on the defensive end, limiting Texas Wesleyan to 25 points in the second half on 34.4 percent shooting from the field, including going 0-for-6 in three in a 70-66 road victory on Saturday.

Presley Payahsape led the Evangels with 27 points on 11-of-18 from the field and 5-of-9 from three, but she recorded the biggest shot of the game when she knocked down a tightly contested running mid-range jumper with 1:05 remaining to give MACU the late 68-66 edge.

After coming up with a big defensive stop on the other end, senior forward Ossyana Ozoani put the game away for good as she knocked down a wide open shot clock beating layup with 11 seconds left off a stellar Sydney Wycoff drive and dish to secure the four-point win.

SCOUTING THE DROVERS
Tuesday night will be a matchup of two teams that are undefeated in Sooner Athletic Conference play as the Drovers make their way into the week with an 8-2 overall record and a 5-0 league mark. The Drovers are coming off a pair of strong wins at home against Texas Wesleyan on Jan. 21, defeating the Lady Rams by a score of 72-49 before heading to Southwestern Assemblies of God and coming away with the 83-50 win on Saturday.

The USAO offense is spearheaded by junior forward Zaria Dorsey, who ranks seventh in the SAC in scoring average at 18.8 points per game and is converting 46.6 percent of her shot attempts. Dorsey is also the squad's leading rebounder at 8.9 boards per game, which is the eighth-best rate in the conference.

Senior point guard Kaytlen Johnson has also provided a huge offensive spark for the Drovers, averaging 10.8 ppg while leading the team and ranking fourth the conference in assists with 51 (5.1 apg).

Dorsey and Johnson have also been stellar on the defensive end for USAO, as Dorsey ranks first in the SAC in blocked shots with 17 while Johnson leads the team with the league's fourth-most steals at 18.

HISTORY WITH THE DROVERS
Since the 2003-04 season, Mid-America Christian holds an 18-15 lead in the all-time series. The two teams split their matchups during the 2020-21 campaign, as the Evangels picked up a 78-75 overtime win at the USAO Fieldhouse on Dec. 13, 2019 before the Drovers came into the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 28, 2020 to steal a 75-71 road win of their own.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
After opting out from playing during the fall semester and having its first seven games in January canceled, John Brown will be competing in its first game of the 2020-21 season. During the 2019-20 campaign, the Golden Eagles finished the year with a 9-20 overall record and a 5-15 mark in Sooner Athletic Conference play.

The Golden Eagles bring back a young team from last year that will be headlined by sophomore forward Tarrah Stephens. Last season as a freshman, Stephens led the team in scoring at 14.1 ppg while also ranking as the team's top rebounder (5.7 rpg) as well as defender with 37 blocked shots and 34 steals.

Senior guard Taylor Fergen will also look to run the point, as she comes back as the team's second-leading scorer (10.4 ppg) and top distributor (107 assists).

HISTORY WITH THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Ever since the 2006-07 campaign, John Brown holds a 17-13 edge in the all-time series. However, momentum has swung in MACU's favor the last six years, as the Evangels have won nine of the last 13 meetings, including the last three matchups.

In last season's meetings, the Evangels defense came up with a big stop on the final possession of the game to hold on for a 73-71 win inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 4, 2020. When the two teams met again at Bill George Arena in Siloam Springs, Arkansas on Jan. 30, Lexi Hernandez poured in what was at the time a career-high 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 5-for-8 from three to guide the Evangels to an 83-75 road win.

IMPRESSIVE PRESLEY
In leading the Evangels to a comeback victory over Texas Wesleyan on Saturday, junior Presley Payahsape put together a career game against the Lady Rams. Payahsape scored a career-best 27 points on 11-for-18 shooting and went 5-for-9 from three-point range to go with five rebounds. The Cashion, Oklahoma native had been averaging 11.3 ppg over the previous four games after she dropped what was then a career-high 20 points in MACU's season-opening 102-93 victory over Oklahoma Wesleyan on Oct. 23. The 5-9 forward is currently the team's second leading scorer, averaging 15.3 ppg on 44.9 percent shooting and possesses the team's highest three-point shooting clip at 46.9 (15-for-32).

CAN'T STEAL HER THUNDER
In MACU's Jan. 21 victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas), senior guard Lexi Hernandez accomplished a feat that no other player has accomplished since the team joined the NAIA in 2007. By finishing the contest with seven steals, the Canyon, Texas product tied the second-most steals in a single game during the NAIA era. With Hernandez breaking the steals record with 10 back on Oct. 28 against Baptist Bible (Mo.), Hernandez became the first Evangels player to ever record seven or more steals in a game on more than one occasion. Hernandez currently leads the team with 23 steals, which ranks as the third-most in the Sooner Athletic Conference and her 3.8 steals per game average not only leads the league, but also ranks ninth in the NAIA.

STAT LEADERS