OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball team made a statement on Saturday afternoon inside the Gaulke Activity Center as the Evangels dominated Langston by a score of 78-59 to surpass the Lions for second in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Ossyana Ozoani – 16 Points, 6-13 FG, 4-6 FT, 19 Reb, 3 Steals
• Presley Payahsape – 19 Points, 7-20 FG, 5-12 3FG, 4 Reb, 3 Assists
• Lexi Hernandez – 18 Points, 7-13 FG, 2-5 3FG, 2-2 FT, 5 Reb, 3 Assists, 2 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Langston jumped out in-front in the early going, scoring six of the first nine as a Sade Bass layup with 7:14 to go gave the Lions the 6-3 advantage.
  • The Evangels closed it to a one-point deficit on a Presley Payahsape layup with 5:58 left to make it 9-8 before the Lions swung back with four straight off of buckets from Jada Spence and Asheika Alexander to expand the advantage to 13-8 with 4:51 on the clock.
  • On the ensuing possession, Lexi Hernandez started a nine-unanswered Evangels by getting a layup to fall as Payahsape soaked a three two-possessions later to tie it up at 13-all. Hernandez scored six of MACU's points during the surge as a pair of free throws made it 17-13 with 1:13 remaining.
  • Langston's Alanna Spencer and Taliyah Harris converted three-pointers on back-to-back possessions in the final minute to reclaim a 19-17 edge at the 17 second mark.
  • On MACU's final possession, Hernandez gave the Evangels the lead for good when Payahsape ran down a loose ball at the top of the key and handed it to Hernandez on the left wing. Hernandez buried the triple from four feet behind the three-point arc at the buzzer to send MACU into the second with a 20-19 advantage.
• Second Quarter
  • The Mid-America Christian defense stifled the Lions, holding LU to without a score for the first 6:34 of the period.
  • Payahsape picked up where she left off in the first period by burying a three at the 9:17 mark to start a string of 15 straight. Ossyana Ozoani capped off the run with a short jumper in the paint with 3:43 left to stretch the Evangels advantage to 35-19.
  • Langston poured in six of the next eight as a Grace Williams jumper with 2:04 left cut the MACU lead to 37-25.
  • Ozoani scored all five of MACU's points during a 5-2 surge to close out the half to expand the Evangels' edge to 42-27 at the break.
• Third Quarter
  • The MACU momentum carried over into the second half as a Sydney Wycoff layup and jumpers from Kyleigh Leverich and Hernandez pushed the advantage out to 48-27 just 1:17 in.
  • Langston scored five of the next seven before the Evangels swung back with a 9-2 streak behind a trio of three-pointers from Hernandez, Payahsape and Abby Bird with 5:44 to go, giving MACU its largest lead of the game at 59-34.
  • After Bird knocked down a pair of free throws to stretch the Evangels' edge back to 25, the Lions surged back with eight unanswered as a pair of Talia Edwards free throws with 53 seconds left closed it to 61-44.
  • The Evangels scored the final four points of the period off of a pair of layups from Wycoff and Ozoani, extending the MACU advantage to 65-44 after three.
• Fourth Quarter
  • The run carried over into the final period as a pair of Ozoani lay-ins wrapped up an eight-point streak 69-44 with 7:54 remaining.
  • The Lions clawed their way back over the next four minutes, stringing together a 13-2 run finished off on a Harris layup to bring the score to 71-57 with 3:42 on the clock.
  • Mid-America Christian's defense clamped down the rest of the way, holding Langston to just two points to wrap up the game with a 7-2 surge for a final score of 78-59.

GAME NOTES

• Offensively, Mid-America Christian converted on 29-of-63 (46 percent) of its shot attempts, including going 8-for-21 (38.1 percent) from three and 12-of-16 (75 percent) from the foul line. The Evangels defense held Langston to only 23-for-62 (37.1 percent) from the floor while shutting down LU from the three-point arc at 3-of-17 (17.6 percent).
• The Evangels controlled the glass by a 41-28 margin while second chance points made the biggest difference in the contest as MACU scored 22 off of 18 offensive rebounds while the Lions could only muster six off of 12 offensive boards.
• Four Evangels scored in double-figures, led by Presley Payahsape with 19 points on 7-of-20 from the field and 5-for-12 from the three-point arc to go with four boards.
• Ossyana Ozoani once again made her mark in the MACU record books as her 19 rebounds tied her career-high and matched her own second-best single game rebounding mark in the NAIA era. With 16 points on 6-for-13 from the floor, the senior forward also notched her 10^th double-double of the season.
• Lexi Hernandez finished in double-digit scoring for the second straight game, notching 18 points off of 7-for-13 from the field, including 2-for-5 from three to go with five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
• Sydney Wycoff rounded out MACU's double-figure scorers with 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting and 4-for-6 from the foul line along with six boards.
• Langston was led by Taliyah Harris with 19 points off of 6-for-14 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe coming off the Lions bench.
• With the win, the Evangels improved to 6-2 in the all-time series while avenging a 75-66 loss to the Lions in the Sooner Athletic Conference Quarterfinal on Feb. 23, 2021, which also marked the last time the MACU has lost inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
• Mid-America Christian now holds a 10-0 record at home this season with the win, improving to 16-2 overall with a 9-2 mark against Sooner Athletic Conference competition. Langston in the defeat drops to 14-4 overall and falls to 9-3 against SAC foes.

UP NEXT

• The stage is now set for a crucial Sooner Athletic Conference showdown on Thursday, Jan. 20 as the Evangels will host No. 9 Wayland Baptist. The battle between the two top teams in the league is slated for a 6 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center.