TEXARKANA, Texas – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team wrapped up its two-game road trip with a stellar defensive performance at Texas A&M-Texarkana, as the Evangels pulled away in the fourth quarter for an 82-61 road victory on Tuesday night.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Lexi Hernandez – 19 Points, 4-8 FG, 2-4 3FG, 9-10 FT, 5 Reb, 2 Assists
• Anna Kash – 14 Points, 6-13 FG, 6 Assists, 4 Reb
• Ossyana Ozoani – 13 Points, 5-12 FG, 3-4 FT, 10 Reb, 4 Steals, 2 Blocks

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Both teams struggled offensively out of the gate as Texarkana managed to jump out to a 6-4 advantage through the first four minutes.
  • Mid-America Christian was finally able to find a little rhythm after Lexi Hernandez buried a pair of free throws, as a Bird lay-in, two more Hernandez free throws and a Kyleigh Leverich three capped off a 9-0 Evangels run to bring the score to 13-6 with 2:55 to go.
  • MACU went cold offensively in the final three minutes as a pair of layups from Mara Jimenez and Naomi Tekleab allowed the Eagles to cut it to 13-10 after one period of play.
• Second Quarter
  • An Ossyana Ozoani layup on MACU's first possession of the second quarter set the tone, as the Evangels rattled off nine straight as a Presley Payahsape three extended the MACU edge to 22-10 with just over eight minutes left.
  • Jimenez's jumper only briefly thwarted MACU's run as the Evangels built their lead out to as much as 17 with Kash nailing a three to make it 29-12 with 5:31 to go.
  • The Eagles clawed their way back, trimming the Evangels' advantage to as little as seven with just over a minute left, but MACU finished strong as a Payahsape jumper with 45 seconds left and a Hernandez layup with two seconds on the clock allowed Mid-America Christian to take a 36-25 lead into the half.
• Third Quarter
  • The two teams were relatively even through the first four minutes, but the Evangels managed to gain a little bit more breathing room at the midway point of the quarter when a pair of Ozoani lay-ins and a Hernandez three with 4:28 left capped a 7-2 spurt, bringing the score to 51-34.
  • MACU took its largest lead of the quarter two minutes later when Payahsape had a strong take to the paint, getting the layup to make it a 55-37 contest.
  • Texas A&M-Texarkana finished the period strong, scoring eight of the final 10 as an Alexia Matteus triple on the Eagles' final possession trimmed the MACU advantage to 57-45.
• Fourth Quarter
  • TAMUT maintained its momentum through the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, opening with a 9-2 run as an Abby Dykes three cut MACU's lead to just five at 59-54 with 7:28 remaining.
  • Mid-America Christian countered with one of its biggest runs of the 2021-22 season thus far. After Sydney Wycoff drew a foul and knocked down a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession, the Evangels clamped down to string together a 19-0 streak as a Leverich free throw with 2:43 to go gave MACU its largest lead of the contest at 78-54.
  • The Evangels kept the Eagles from scoring for more than five minutes as a pair of Jimenez free throws with just over two minutes left finally ended the run as MACU eventually closed out for an 82-61 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Offensively, Mid-America Christian had one of its least efficient games of the season, shooting just 27-of-72 (37.5 percent) and 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from three, but did quite a bit of damage from the foul line, knocking down 21-of-28 (75 percent) of its attempts.
• Defensively, the Evangels performed well by limiting Texas A&M-Texarkana to just 25-of-63 (39.7 percent) from the floor, 8-for-22 (36.4 percent) from three and hardly sent the Eagles to the foul line, converting just 3-of-5 (60 percent) of their attempts.
• Where the Evangels made the biggest difference was in the pressure. MACU forced Texarkana into committing 31 turnovers, recording 17 steals on those giveaways. On the flip side, the Evangels committed just 14 miscues.
• Mid-America Christian was once again balanced on the offensive end with four players cracking into double-figures. Lexi Hernandez led the way with 19 points on 4-of-8 shooting, went 2-for-4 from three and knocked down a blistering 9-for-10 from the charity stripe. Hernandez also finished with five boards and a pair of assists.
• Anna Kash added 14 points on 6-for-13 shooting was the Evangels biggest offensive catalyst with a team-high six assists to go with four boards.
• Ossyana Ozoani recorded her second double-double in the last three games, scoring 13 points on 5-of-12 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the foul line to go with her 10 rebounds. Ozoani also finished with a season-high four steals and blocked a pair of shots.
• Defensively, four different Evangels recorded at least three steals Sydney Wycoff, Abby Bird and Kyleigh Leverich each came away with a trio of thefts.
• It was the first time the two teams have met each other in their program's histories.
• With the win, Mid-America Christian improved to 5-0 on the season while Texas A&M-Texarkana fell to 0-1 following their season-opener.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will have a 10-day break before it will return to the court on Friday, Nov. 12 as the Evangels will host the MACU Classic. MACU's first game in that event will be against Bethel (Kan.) at 7 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.