OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team notched its second-straight 100-point game to start the 2021-22 campaign on Friday night inside the Gaulke Activity Center as the Evangels cruised to a 100-54 victory over North American (Texas) to wrap up its three-game home stand.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Presley Payahsape – 18 Points, 6-13 FG, 3-7 3FG, 3-3 FT, 3 REB
• Lexi Hernandez – 17 Points, 6-9 FG, 4-7 3FG, 10 Assists
• Ossyana Ozoani – 13 Points, 4-10 FG, 5-8 FT, 17 Reb
• Sydney Wycoff – 16 Points, 7-10 FG, 1-2 3FG, 6 Reb, 5 Assists, 3 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian got off to a slow start in the opening quarter as North American jumped out to an 8-5 lead with 6:03 to go off a Mallorie Miller three.
  • On the ensuing possession, Presley Payahsape was able to jumpstart the Evangels offense with a three from the right wing, as the MACU strung together a 14-2 run capped off on an Anna Kash jumper with 1:28 left to bring the score to 19-10.
  • NAU's Nyasia Goldman converted a fastbreak layup in the final minute to stop the run, but Lexi Hernandez extended the MACU advantage to 22-12 by splashing a three-pointer from the right corner with 31 seconds on the clock.
• Second Quarter
  • The Evangels opened the second period with a huge surge, scoring 12 in a row off of a Sydney Wycoff fastbreak layup and three-pointer, a Hernandez fastbreak lay-in, a McKenzi Lamer three and a Payahsape jumper to bring the score to 34-12 with 7:12 to go.
  • Following a Miller three, MACU went on another five-unanswered spurt, capped off on a Sydney Savage offensive rebound and put-back to give the Evangels their largest lead of the half, 39-15 with 3:59 left.
  • North American managed to cut the Evangels' edge to under 20 just once over the remainder of the half, but MACU kept the Stallions in-check as the Evangels took a 46-25 advantage into the halftime break.
• Third Quarter
  • The Stallions scored the first five points out of the locker room before an Abby Bird fastbreak layup ignited an 11 unanswered streak as an Ossyana Ozoani lay-in on a breakaway stretched the MACU lead to 57-30 with 6:09 left.
  • Two minutes later, the Evangels swelled its advantage into the thirties by scoring six straight, featuring another Payahsape three to make it 65-33 with 2:30 remaining.
  • Just before the end of the period, Wycoff was able to find Hernandez in the left corner for a three with 19 seconds left to make it 72-57 after three quarters of play.
• Fourth Quarter
  • The Stallions scored eight of the first 10 at the start before the Evangels countered with an 8-1 run of their own, featuring a pair of Hernandez triples to increase the MACU edge to 82-45 with 7:27 left.
  • Mid-America Christian struggled to add to their advantage over the next three minutes until Kaylee Hurst knocked down a pair from the charity stripe with 4:23 on the clock to start another string of eight straight. Wycoff's steal and fastbreak layup extended the run to bring the score to 94-52 at the 3:21 mark.
  • Following a pair of Jada Stewart free throws, the Evangels closed out the contest with six unanswered off an Aneli Thomsen jumper and two Wycoff layups to close out a 100-54 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Offensively, Mid-America Christian shot 36-of-76 (47.4 percent) from the field and 12-for-28 from the three-point arc while limiting North American to only 14-of-55 (25.5 percent) shooting and 6-for-23 (26.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
• The Evangels were once again balanced on the offensive end with five different players scoring in double-figures, led by Presley Payahsape for the second straight game with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting and 3-of-7 from three.
• Lexi Hernandez notched her second career double-double by dishing out a career-high 10 assists to go with 17 points on 6-for-9 from the field and 4-of-7 from three.
• Senior forward Ossyana Ozoani recorded her 11^th career double-double by scoring 13 points and pulling down a career-best 17 rebounds, tying the fifth-most in a single game by a MACU player in the NAIA era.
• Sydney Wycoff put together one of her best all-around games of the season, scoring 16 points on 7-of-10 from the field to go with six boards, five assists and three steals while Sydney Savage recorded her first double-digit scoring game of her MACU career with 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting to go with seven rebounds.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will play its first road game of the season on Monday, Nov. 1 as the Evangels will head to Shreveport, La. for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against LSU-Shreveport.