OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team once again strung together outstanding second half, outscoring Cottey 58-22 over the final 20 minutes to come away with a 92-44 victory in the final game of the MACU Classic inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• McKenzi Lamer – 15 Points, 5-11 FG, 3-7 3FG, 2-2 FT, 10 Reb
• Abby Bird – 15 Points, 5-7 FG, 2-4 3FG, 3-3 FT, 3 Assists
• Ossyana Ozoani – 10 Points, 3-5 FG, 4-6 FT, 13 Reb
• Lexi Hernandez – 8 Points, 3-8 FG, 2-3 FT, 6 Assists, 6 Steals, 4 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • After Presley Payahsape knocked down a three for the first score of the game, Cottey countered with a five-unanswered run to grab the 5-3 edge with 7:42 to go.
  • The Evangels swung back with 10 unanswered of their own as Abby Bird scored seven of MACU's points during that run, capping it with a three to bring it to a 13-5 game with 3:08 left.
  • The Comets scored five of the last seven points over the final three minutes to close the Evangels' edge to 15-10 after the first 10 minutes.
• Second Quarter
  • On CC's first possession, MacKenzie Wohlers buried a three to cut its deficit to just two, but MACU got the five-point cushion back at 18-13 just two possessions later on an Abby Bird triple from the left wing.
  • A Thalia Merritt layup was the only score over the next two minutes before Lexi Hernandez's free throw with 6:57 to go started another strong MACU run. Ossyana Ozoani scored the next five points on a layup and three free throws to a 24-15 game with 4:58 remaining.
  • Cottey was able to keep the Evangels from running away with it in the first half as a Merritt three with 54 seconds left pulled it to within seven before MACU surged back. After a Sydney Savage layup, Sydney Wycoff was able to get the steal and a fastbreak layup with seven seconds left to make it a 32-21 Evangels' edge.
  • After Taylor Coonce drew a foul with 4.78 seconds left and buried a free throw, Wycoff came up clutch as she received an in-bound pass and went the length of the court before throwing up a layup that rolled in just as the buzzer sounded to set the score to 34-22 at the halftime break.
• Third Quarter
  • The Comets knocked down threes on back-to-back possessions to trim the MACU lead to 34-28 a minute into the second half.
  • At the 7:53 mark, Kyleigh Leverich received a pass from Anna Kash and buried the three to start an 11 unanswered run over a two-minute stretch as an Ozoani lay-in in the paint with 5:57 to go pushed it to a 45-28 advantage.
  • Two Merritt free throws only briefly stopped the MACU streak as the Evangels strung together an enormous 24-unanswered run over 4:20 stretch. Mid-America Christian started it with back-to-back three-point plays by Bird and Hernandez before Kash and and Leverich drained threes on the next two possessions. An Aneli Thomsen jumper eventually ended the run to bring it to 69-30 with 1:11 left.
  • A Cottey three by Sarah Musson and a pair of McKenzi Lamer free throws allowed the Evangels to take a commanding 71-33 advantage into the final period.
• Fourth Quarter
  • Following a Jaada Valley layup, Mid-America Christian rattled off six straight to take its first 40-plus point lead behind a pair of Thomsen free throws and layups from Payahsape and Leverich to set the score to 77-35 with 7:03 remaining.
  • Cottey scored seven of the next nine over the next three minutes to knock its deficit down to 79-42 with 4:07 left.
  • The Evangels outscored the Comets 13-2 over the final four minutes as Lamer scored seven points in the run to go with a pair of threes from Payahsape and Wycoff to wrap up the 92-44 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Overall, Mid-America Christian finished the contest by shooting 33-for-73 (45.2 percent) and knocking down 13-for-30 (43.3 percent) from the while converting on 13-of-17 (76.5 percent) from the foul line. Defensively, MACU held Cottey to just 14-of-53 (26.4 percent) from the field and 6-for-29 (20.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
• The Evangels dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Comets 51-30 and forced Cottey into 20 turnovers while committing just 13 themselves.
• MACU had a balanced scoring effort with five players breaking into double-figures and eight players scoring seven or more points.
• Two different MACU players notched double-doubles as McKenzi Lamer recorded her first career double-double with 15 points and 10 boards while Ossyana Ozoani led the Evangels on the glass with 13 rebounds and 10 points.
• Abby Bird also notched a 15-point effort, her second-highest scoring game of the season while Kyleigh Leverich chipped in 11 points to go with 10 for Anna Kash.
• Lexi Hernandez filled the stat sheet as she scored eight points and led the team in both assists with six and tallied a season-high six steals to go with four rebounds.
• By getting the win, Mid-America Christian is off to its best start since joining the NAIA in 2007 with a 7-0 overall record. The win topped MACU's start to the 2018-19 NCCAA National Championship campaign when the Evangels strung together six wins in a row to start the season.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now prepare to enter Sooner Athletic Conference play as the Evangels will head to Goodwell, Okla. on Thursday, Nov. 18 to take on Oklahoma Panhandle State. The Evangels will tip-off against the Aggies at 6 p.m. inside Anchor D Arena.