OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team commemorated its three graduating seniors with a record-breaking performance on Saturday afternoon at the Gaulke Activity Center. The Evangels knocked down an NAIA era record 21 three-pointers in a 109-51 victory over Central Christian.
 

STAT LEADERS

• McKenzi Lamer – 21 PTS, 7-11 3FG, 5 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL
• Ossyana Ozoani – 12 PTS, 5-5 FG, 2-2 FT, 4 REB, 4 STL
• Shelby Thrailkill – 11 PTS, 4-9 FG, 3-8 3FG
• Lexi Hernandez – 9 PTS, 3-5 3FG, 7 AST, 5 STL, 4 REB
• Sydney Wycoff – 7 PTS, 9 REB, 5 AST

 

GAME SUMMARY

• 1^st Quarter
  • After Lexi Hernandez opened the game with a three, Central Christian (2-16, 0-11 Sooner Athletic Conference) went on a five unanswered run to take its only lead of the game at 5-3 at the 8:55 mark.
  • Mid-America Christian (9-1, 6-0 SAC) snapped back with nine straight as an Ossyana Ozoani layup capped the run to make it a 12-7 MACU advantage with 5:32 to go.
  • The closest Central Christian was able to cut into the Evangels' edge for the remainder of the contest was three at 16-13 with 3:22 remaining on a jumper by Josie Cook.
  • MACU closed out the quarter with a 10-2 run as Aaliyah Endsley found Hernandez in the right corner for a buzzer-beating three, sending the Evangels into the second period with a 26-15 advantage.
• 2^nd Quarter
  • Neither team could muster a score through the first two minutes before Kyleigh Leverich broke into the box score with a three with 7:55 left.
  • The Evangels didn't allow Central Christian to score until the 3:10 mark as MACU rattled off 18 unanswered to start the period. During that run, MACU scored all of their points by way of the three-pointer, as McKenzi Lamer knocked down four of them to go with one apiece from Leverich and Sydney Wycoff. Lamer's bomb to end the run brought the lead to 44-15 with 4:13 to go until halftime.
  • Following a Tigers free throw, MACU went on another 10-0 run as Endsley's steal and fastbreak layup with 18 seconds left ended the streak at 54-16. Central Christian's Cheyenne Marshall made a pair of free throws with five seconds left to send the Evangels into the break with a commanding 54-18 lead.
• 3^rd Quarter
  • Competing in her first game of the season, senior guard Lauryn Williams scored MACU's first five points of the second half, but Central Christian was able to score five early points as well to keep the MACU lead to 59-23 with 7:27 remaining.
  • Seven seconds later, Shelby Thrailkill jumpstarted a 17 unanswered run with her second three-pointer of the game. Presley Payahsape wrapped up the run by knocking down her lone three-pointer with 2:59 to go to extend the MACU edge to 76-23.
  • Aneli Thomsen gave the Evangels their largest lead of the quarter on an offensive rebound and putback to make it an 83-27 game with just over two minutes left. Central Christian managed to score the next four points before Kyleigh Leverich hit a fadeaway three-pointer from the left wing at the buzzer to push the advantage back out to 86-31 heading into the final period.
• 4^th Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian scored six of the first seven points, as a Thomsen layup extended the Evangels lead to 92-32 with 8:18 to play.
  • Emmy Colin's trey at the 7:12 mark to bring the score to 95-34 gave MACU its largest lead of the contest.
  • The Evangels led by no less than 54 the rest of the way as Lamer buried her seventh three-pointer of the game with 1:06 remaining to wrap up the 109-51 victory.

 

GAME NOTES

• Offensively, Mid-America Christian put together its second-best shooting performance of the season, knocking down 40-of-73 (54.8 percent) from the field while the record-breaking three-point shooting performance came on a 21-for-42 (50 percent) clip.
• The 51 points allowed by MACU was the second-lowest scoring output the defense had allowed all season, as it held Central Christian to only 17-of-61 (27.9 percent) shooting, including 4-for-25 (16 percent) from beyond the arc. The Evangels also forced 23 turnovers, notching steals on 15 of those giveaways.
• The Evangels dished out a season-high 31 assists, the third-most in a single game in the NAIA era and tied a season-low 11 turnovers. MACU also dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Tigers 50-to-35.
• The 21 made three-pointers topped the previous NAIA era record of 19 that MACU made in an 84-58 victory over Southwestern Christian in the SAC Quarterfinals in Waxahachie, Texas on Mar. 3, 2016.
• McKenzi Lamer led the Evangels with 21 points on 7-of-11 from behind the three-point arc, tying her career-high from three from when she dropped 31 points in MACU's 116-31 victory over Baptist Bible (Mo.) on Oct. 28.
• Senior guard Shelby Thrailkill notched her third career double-digit scoring game with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting and went 3-for-8 from the three-point arc.
• Four different Evangels made at least three 3-point baskets (Lamer, Thrailkill, Kyleigh Leverich, Lexi Hernandez).
• Four MACU players also tallied at least five assists, with Hernandez leading the way with seven to go with five steals on the defensive end. Aaliyah Endsley and Leverich each dished out six apiece while Sydney Wycoff recorded five and also ripped down a team-high nine rebounds off the bench.
• Endsley, Thrailkill and Lauryn Williams each played their final regular season game inside the Gaulke Activity Center and were honored after the completion of the game.

 

NEXT UP

• Mid-America Christian will close out the regular season with a pair of road contests next week. The Evangels will open the trip with a Thursday night matchup at Oklahoma Panhandle State for a 6 p.m. tip-off.