OKLAHOMA CITY – Coming off its first ever appearance in the NAIA National Championship tournament, the Mid-America Christian women's basketball team is proud to announce that it has signed three student-athletes to compete for the upcoming 2021-22 season.
The Evangels have added a pair of transfers in Abby Bird and Kaylee Hurst as well as an incoming freshman in Jade Millan.
Bird, a 6-0 forward from Overland Park, Kan., arrives at MACU after a stellar three-year playing career at Baker (Kan.). In her career with the Wildcats, Bird scored 1097 points on a 13.3 per game average, shooting 40.3 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from three and 81.2 percent from the charity stripe. Bird also ripped down 464 rebounds, dished out 158 assists to go with 108 steals and 80 blocks on the defensive end in 82 games with BU.
During those three season, Bird was a three-time Heart of America All-Conference honoree, earning First Team in 2021, Second Team in 2020 and Honorable Mention accolades in 2019.
"Abby has already had a great career playing high-level NAIA basketball, scoring more than 1000 points in a great conference," said MACU head coach Hannah Moeller. "She has great size and is truly a three-level scorer. She is a tremendous passer and takes pride in setting others up to succeed. I love that she has a fierce competitor's spirit. She's accomplished a ton and has many individual accolades, but the most impressive thing about her is that the one thing she cares about right now is winning. She is unselfish and will mesh with our roster perfectly."
Competing with NCAA Division II Oklahoma Baptist last season, Hurst comes to MACU after concluding her 2020-21 season by competing in 21 games and making one start for the Bison. The 5-8 guard from Woodward, Okla. finished the campaign with 71 points (3.4 ppg), 34 rebounds, 18 assists and 18 steals.
Previously, Hurst played for NOC-Enid, where she helped lead the Jets to a 21-9 overall record and an appearance in the NJCAA Division I Region II Finals in 2020. During that season, Hurst averaged 15.0 ppg on 47.6 percent shooting, 45.5 percent from three and 74.4 percent from the charity stripe.
"Kaylee is one we have been watching for several years," said Moeller. "She had a terrific junior college career at NOC-Enid playing for Scott Morris. She is tough, smart and can shoot the lights out of it. The other thing about Kaylee that makes her such a great addition is simply how kind she is as a person. She's someone that everyone on our team loves already."
Millan, the lone high school signee, is a 5-10 combo guard-forward that competed for Empire High School. In her four-year career, Millan was a four-time All-Conference as well as an All-State honoree at the Class A level for the Bulldogs finishing with 1368 points during that span.
"What stuck out about Jade the first time I watched her play was her length, athleticism and her confidence," Moeller stated. "We truly see the sky as the limit for Jade's potential. It is going to be a blast to see her grow into a tremendous player and person over her career."
Mid-America Christian will officially open the 2021-22 season at home on Oct. 23 with a non-conference bout against Ozark Christian (Mo.). Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
