OKLAHOMA CITY – For the first time this season, the Mid-America Christian women's basketball team had a player sweep both the Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Week and the NCCAA Student-Athlete of the Week awards as Ossyana Ozoani claimed both honors on Monday.
In MACU's New Year's Day 71-58 victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God, the senior forward finished with a career-high 25 points on 9-for-15 shooting and went 7-for-14 from the foul line to go with 19 rebounds and five steals.
It was the second time in her five-year MACU career that Ozoani eclipsed the 20-point mark. Ozoani's previous career-best came in an 88-71 victory over John Brown back on Jan. 28, 2021, pouring in 20 points on 8-for-13 from the field to go with nine rebounds.
The 19 boards pulled down by Ozoani tied D'Shala Culberson and Karina Trindade for the second-most in a single game since the Evangels joined the NAIA and moved up to the NCCAA Division I level in 2007. Ozoani finished just a board shy of tying Culberson's single game record of 20 that was notched during the 2015-16 campaign.
So far this season, the 5-10 forward is averaging 11.5 rebounds per game, which ranks 12th and in the NAIA and third in the NCCAA. Ozoani has also recorded double-doubles in five straight games, averaging 16.4 points and 14.6 rebounds per game during that stretch.
Ozoani is the first MACU player to receive the SAC Player of the Week award this season and is collecting her second NCCAA Student-Athlete of the Week accolade after receiving the honor on Dec. 6, 2021. Ozoani is the first Evangels player to collect both weekly awards since Lexi Hernandez accomplished the feat on Nov. 16, 2020 after she put up a 39-point performance in a 97-76 win at SAGU on Nov. 12, 2020.
On top of being the team's top rebounder, Ozoani also leads the team in scoring with 176 points (13.5 ppg) as well as steals with 26 (2.0 spg).
Mid-America Christian will look to keep things rolling tonight as the Evangels host UNT-Dallas for the first time in program history. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
