WBB WBU Postgame - 1/20/22
John Moore
74
Wayland Baptist WBU 19-3, 11-2 SAC
83
Winner Mid-America Christian MACU 17-2, 10-2 SAC
Wayland Baptist WBU
19-3, 11-2 SAC
74
Final
83
Mid-America Christian MACU
17-2, 10-2 SAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Wayland Baptist WBU 29 13 16 16 74
Mid-America Christian MACU 30 15 21 17 83

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Adam Stanek - MACU Sports Information

Ozoani Breaks Career Rebounds Record, Evangels Stun No. 9 Wayland Baptist in a Battle of SAC Powers

OKLAHOMA CITY – It was a special night for the Mid-America Christian women's basketball team on Thursday night inside the Gaulke Activity Center. Not only did senior forward Ossyana Ozoani become the program's leading rebounder in the NAIA Era, but the Evangels picked up a crucial 83-74 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over No. 9 Wayland Baptist to move to within a half-game of the league lead.
 
TOP PERFORMERS GAME SUMMARY
  • First Quarter
    • Mid-America Christian jumped out to the early 4-2 edge off an Ossyana Ozoani midrange jumper and a Presley Payahsape layup before WBU's Kaylee Edgemon knocked down a three from the right wing to give Wayland Baptist the 5-4 edge with 8:45 on the clock.
    • The Evangels gained the momentum a minute later when Lexi Hernandez buried the three with 7:23 left as MACU strung together a 15-5 run capped off on another Hernandez three-point bomb to bring the score to 19-10 with just over five minutes to go.
    • After WBU's Canton Moreno and Payahsape traded threes on back-to-back possessions, the Flying Queens strung together seven unanswered, pulling it to within two at 22-20 on a Jenna Cooper triple with 2:40 left.
    • MACU briefly stemmed the tide with a layup by Ozoani and then Payahsape followed with a lay-in with 1:41 to go to make it 26-21 during a 4-1 surge.
    • Wayland Baptist streaked back to close out the quarter, outscoring MACU 8-4 over the final 1:31 as a Canton Moreno three-point play with 19 seconds left closed the MACU advantage to 30-29 after one quarter.
  • Second Quarter
    • The Flying Queens were able to keep the Evangels offense in-check through the first three minutes of the second period as WBU rattled off five unanswered to grab a 34-30 advantage on a Cooper fastbreak layup with 7:16 remaining.
    • Sydney Wycoff and Kaitlyn Edgemon traded three-point buckets to keep the game at a stalemate before another Hernandez three and a highly skilled McKenzi Lamer layup with 4:17 on the clock pushed MACU back in-front, 38-37.
    • A layup by Kaitlyn Edgemon on the ensuing possession only briefly thwarted the Evangels run as Kyleigh Leverich immediately answered with a three-ball before Wycoff found Ozoani for a layup in the paint to swell the MACU advantage to 43-39 with 2:49 on the clock.
    • WBU's Jessica Medcalf knocked it down off a three on the next possession, but Mid-America Christian held the Flying Queens scoreless over the final 2:40 as a Lamer jumper with 2:21 left was the final score of the opening half as MACU went into the locker room with the 45-42 edge.
  • Third Quarter
    • Once again, Wayland Baptist started out with the early momentum as a Kaitlyn Edgemon lay-in and a pair of Angel Hayden free throws put the Flying Queens back in-front 46-45 with 8:52 remaining.
    • Payahsape got the MACU offense flowing again with buckets on the next two possessions as the Evangels rattled off 10 unanswered off layups from Lamer and Ozoani before Abby Bird capped it on a jump-shot with 5:59 left to make it 55-46.
    • WBU put in back-to-back buckets to knock it down to five before the Evangels swung back with five unanswered on a Wycoff three before Leverich's steal ultimately led to an Ozoani lay-in off a great Bird dish to set the score to 60-50 with 3:18 to go.
    • The Evangels maintained no less than a seven-point advantage the rest of the way as Bird finished off a three-point play with 48 seconds left to push the MACU edge back to 10 before a pair of Hayden free throws trimmed it down to 66-58 heading into the final period.
  • Fourth Quarter
    • Despite both teams turning the ball over twice in the first 1:12, the Evangels were able to take their largest lead of the game at 70-58 following a Wycoff layup and a Payahsape jumper with 8:40 to go.
    • WBU pushed back by scoring four unanswered of their own to close it to within single-digits on a Kaylee Edgemon layup with 7:15 left, putting it at 70-62. However, the Evangels answered every Flying Queens bucket to maintain an 8-to-10-point lead for the next four-plus minutes.
    • A Moreno steal and fastbreak layup at the three-minute mark drew it to 76-70, but Wycoff came up with a huge response three possessions later. After Ozoani recorded her record-tying offensive rebound, Wycoff finished on the second chance and drew the foul with 2:02 to go to bring it back to a nine-point edge.
    • The Evangels were able to grind away previous time with a pair of offensive rebounds on their next possession while Wycoff and Leverich were able to put the game away from the foul line in the final minute to secure the 83-74 victory.
GAME SUMMARY
  • By shooting 32-for-64 (50 percent) from the floor, Mid-America Christian boasted the best shooting percentage an opponent has notched against the Flying Queens this season. MACU also knocked down 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) from the three-point arc while also converting on 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe.
  • The Evangels held Wayland Baptist to just 25-for-64 (39.1 percent) shooting, including 8-of-22 (36.4 percent) from behind the arc, but the Flying Queens were able to gain some ground from the foul line by knocking down 16-for-19 (84.2 percent).
  • The turnover and rebounding margins were very even in the match with MACU owning the glass at 35-to-33, but the Flying Queens held a slight 13-to-14 edge in turnovers. However, MACU was able to put together its third-best assist-to-turnover ratio of the season with 21 assists to those 14 giveaways.
  • Senior forward Ossyana Ozoani narrowly missed her 12th double-double of the season in her record-breaking performance. Needing just eight rebounds coming into the contest to tie Alexis Shannon's NAIA era career rebounds record, Ozoani finished the game with nine to give her 758 at MACU. Ozoani also poured in 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting while also leading the defensive efforts with four steals.
  • Presley Payahsape led the MACU offensive efforts with a team-high 18 points on 8-for-14 from the floor and 2-of-3 from three to go with four boards.
  • Sydney Wycoff put together an incredible offensive floor game. Not only did she pour in 17 points on 4-of-8 shooting, going 2-for-2 from the arc and 7-for-7 from the free throw line, but Wycoff also dished out a season-high eight assists while not committing a single turnover.
  • Lexi Hernandez rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Evangels with 11 points while converting on 3-for-7 from downtown to go with seven boards and a pair of steals.
  • Kyleigh Leverich also put together a solid floor game with eight points to go with six assists and two steals while Abby Bird finished with five points and a season-high five assists.
  • With the win, Mid-America Christian recorded just its second victory against a team ranked in the NAIA Top 25 in the program's history. The Evangels last win against a nationally-ranked opponent game against the very same Flying Queens program as MACU topped No. 5 Wayland Baptist by a score of 85-66 inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 25, 2019.
  • The victory also pushed the Evangels to within a half-game of Wayland Baptist for first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference as MACU improved to 17-2 overall and 10-2 in SAC play while the Flying Queens dropped to 19-3 overall and 11-2 against league foes.
  • The two teams have split the season series as MACU avenged a 77-68 loss to Wayland Baptist in Plainview, Texas back on Nov. 20, 2021.
UP NEXT
  • Mid-America Christian will be back in the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday as the Evangels will host Oklahoma Panhandle State for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
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