OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team was able to bounce back from a sluggish start in the first half, outscoring Texas Wesleyan 21-10 in the third quarter before holding off the Lady Rams late to secure a 78-73 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Thursday night.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Ossyana Ozoani – 16 Points, 5-6 FG, 6-6 FT, 18 Reb
• Anna Kash – 16 Points, 6-11 FG, 2-5 FG, 2-3 FT, 3 Reb
• Lexi Hernandez – 13 Points, 5-11 FG, 5 Reb, 3 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Both teams struggled on the offensive end as a pair of Hailee Walls free throws drew the game even at 6-6 with 4:23 to go.
  • On the following MACU possession, Kyleigh Leverich buried a three and then came up with a steal before Lexi Hernandez knocked down a midrange jumper to give MACU the 11-6 advantage with 3:48 left.
  • A Na'Teiona Cole jumper briefly halted the MACU run before Leverich knocked down her second three of the game at the 2:34 mark to bring the Evangels edge to 14-8.
  • Texas Wesleyan closed out the quarter with a 10-4 run, including scoring the final seven points over the final 36 seconds to tie it up at 18 after 10 minutes of action.
• Second Quarter
  • Texas Wesleyan scored five of the first seven to start, but a layup from Sydney Wycoff and a second-chance score from Lexi Hernandez with 7:28 left gave MACU the 24-23 edge.
  • Mid-America Christian struggled to score over the next four minutes as the Lady Rams went on a 9-0 streak as Kertisa Amos' layup made it a 32-24 TWU lead with 3:33 left.
  • An impressive Sydney Savage three-point play on a midrange jumper managed to knock the Evangels deficit to five, 32-27 with just over three minutes left, but Texas Wesleyan didn't allow MACU to climb any closer before the rest of the half, taking a 38-31 advantage into the halftime break.
• Third Quarter
  • An Ossyana Ozoani layup off a Leverich dish on the second possession of the half ignited the Evangels offense as MACU went on a 9-2 run before tying it at 40-all on Presley Payahsape's layup with 6:59 to go.
  • A Makayla Coy free throw only briefly put Texas Wesleyan back into the lead as Ozoani knocked down a layup to give MACU the lead back before scored five consecutive on a triple and a jumper on the ensuing possession with 4:30 left to make it 47-41.
  • The Lady Rams scored five unanswered to knock the Evangels' edge down to one, but a Payahsape three on the following possession allowed MACU to maintain a four-point lead at 52-48 at the conclusion of the third period.
• Fourth Quarter
  • The Lady Rams closed the gap to two twice early in the final period before the Evangels defense clamped down as a Kash three and a Herandez jumper with 5:39 remaining pushed the MACU lead back out to 59-52.
  • MACU maintained its four-point lead over the next two minutes before TWU strung out an 8-3 surge to trim it down to a 66-64 deficit with 1:48 left.
  • The Evangels were able to dominate from the free throw line over the final few minutes to put the game away. Mid-America Christian went 12-for-14 from the charity stripe to thwart the Lady Rams comeback and secure the 78-73 victory.

MATCH NOTES

• Mid-America Christian offensively scored on 25-of-55 (45.5 percent) of its field goal attempts, but struggled from three by knocking down just 6-for-23 (26.1 percent) from beyond the arc. However, the MACU defense was able to severely limit the Lady Rams offense to just 27-of-75 (36 percent) shooting and only 2-for-20 (10 percent) from three.
• The biggest difference in the game came from the foul line as the Evangels finished 22-for-26 (84.6 percent) as a team while the Lady Rams converted 17-of-22 (77.3 percent).
• MACU held a slim 40-39 edge on the glass, but lost the turnover battle with 24 miscues to only 16 for the Lady Rams.
• The Evangels were once again very balanced on the offensive end with five players scoring in double-figures.
• Senior forward Ossyana Ozoani found herself in the MACU record books when she not only led the team in scoring with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 6-for-6 from the foul line, but her career-high 18 rebounds tied D'Shala Culberson for the fourth-most boards in a game since the program joined the NAIA in 2007.
• Junior guard Anna Kash also poured in 16 points on 6-for-11 from the floor, 2-for-5 from three and 2-of-3 from the foul line to go with three boards.
• Presley Payahsape poured in 14 points and dished out a team-high three assists while Lexi Hernandez added 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting to go with five rebounds and a team-best three steals defensively.
• Kyleigh Leverich rounded out the double-digit scorers by tying a season-high 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting, including 2-for-4 from three and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe to go along with four rebounds and a pair of dimes.
• With the win, Mid-America Christian was able to bounce back from its first loss of the season to move to 9-1 overall and 2-1 in Sooner Athletic Conference play while handing the Lady Rams their first loss of the season at 7-1 and 2-1 against league foes.
• The Evangels have now won four straight in the series against Texas Wesleyan and own a 16-4 record over TWU since the two teams started facing each other in 2009.
• At the conclusion of the game, Mid-America Christian honored the memory of Steve Clouse, the former Chair of the Business Administration department by naming the new basketball coaches suites in the Gaulke Activity Center in his honor. Clouse sadly passed away roughly a year ago due to complications from COVID-19.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now prepare to face one of its biggest rivals as the Evangels will head down to Chickasha, Okla. on Saturday to take on Science & Arts. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. inside the Drover Fieldhouse.