OKLAHOMA CITY – The Mid-America Christian women's basketball rallied back from a first half deficit come away with a 99-74 victory over UNT-Dallas in the first ever meeting between the two programs at the Gaulke Activity Center on Monday night.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Ossyana Ozoani – 20 Points, 10-11 FG, 12 Reb
• McKenzi Lamer – 20 Points, 7-11 FG, 5-7 3FG
• Sydney Wycoff – 17 Points, 6-9 FG, 2-3 3FG, 3-4 FT, 6 Assists, 3 Steals, 3 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian struggled on the offensive end through the first five minutes as UNT-Dallas jumped out to an 8-3 lead on Delyssa Miller three with 4:39 to go.
  • The Evangels quickly battled back to tie it on a Kyleigh Leverich three and a Lexi Hernandez pull-up jumper, bringing it to 8-8 with just over four minutes left.
  • MACU managed to keep it to within two before the Trailblazers pulled back a four-point edge off of scores from Tamia Miller and Zyunn Cormier with 2:07 remaining.
  • Kaylee Hurst knocked down a layup with 31 seconds on the clock to narrow it to one possession, but UNTD pushed its edge back out to five at 17-12 at the end of one quarter on a Brooke Lopez three with seven seconds left.
• Second Quarter
  • UNT-Dallas stretched its lead out to as much as seven on a Cormier jumper just over a minute into the second period, but a Hernandez triple ignited an 8-2 surge as Sydney Wycoff pitched in a three and a pair of free throws to cut it to 21-20 with 6:46 remaining.
  • Following a Trailblazers three, another Hernandez bucket jumpstarted an eight unanswered run. The Evangels kept UNTD off the board for nearly three minutes as a free throw line jumper fell for Ossyana Ozoani with 4:28 left to give MACU the 28-24 edge.
  • The Trailblazers kept it to within one possession until the 2:53 mark before a McKenzi Lamer three started a string of six unanswered as her free throw following an Ozoani layup gave MACU its largest lead of the half at 36-28 with just under a minute and a half to go.
  • UNT-Dallas knocked down a pair of threes to end the half with a 6-2 run to close the Mid-America Christian lead to 38-34 at the break.
• Third Quarter
  • The Trailblazers kept it to within striking distance in the early going, but an Abby Bird jumper with just over eight minutes to go jumpstarted a 12-0 Evangels streak over a 2:16 stretch before Wycoff wrapped it up with a three with 6:58 left to make it a 54-38 MACU advantage.
  • Mid-America Christian was able to push it out to 17 on another Bird three just moments later before UNTD countered with a 6-2 run to claw it back to 59-46 on a Caitlyn Cron layup with 3:47 on the clock.
  • The Evangels dominated the remainder of the period, closing out the remaining three-and-a-half minutes by outscoring the Trailblazers 18-6 as a pair of Kaylee Hurst free throws with 47 seconds remaining sent MACU into the fourth period with a 77-52 edge.
• Fourth Quarter
  • MACU quickly pushed its advantage out to 30 as Hurst's bucket on the opening possession followed by a Lamer three in transition with 9:19 to go brought it to 82-52.
  • The closest UNTD could cut into the deficit was by stringing together a 7-2 surge following the Lamer triple to make it 84-59 with 7:12 to go.
  • The Evangels eventually built as large as a 31-point cushion on Aneli Thomsen's pull-up jumper from the free throw line, setting the score to 99-68 at the 2:39 mark.
  • UNT-Dallas scored the final six points of the contest to wrap up the 99-74 final.

GAME NOTES

• After shooting just 5-for-19 (26.3 percent) from the field and 2-of-9 (22.2 percent) from three in the opening quarter, Mid-America Christian caught fire offensively over the final three by knocking down 32-of-49 (65.3 percent) from the floor and 10-for-16 (62.5 percent) from beyond the arc to finish the contest with a 54.4 percent shooting clip and 48.0 percent from downtown.
• The Evangels also efficiently knocked down 13-for-17 (76.5 percent) from the foul line while defensively limiting UNT-Dallas to 29-for-65 (44.6 percent), including 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) from three.
• After being named the Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Week, senior forward Ossyana Ozoani found herself in the MACU record books once again. Finishing with 20 points on 10-for-11 from the floor, Ozoani recorded the fourth-highest shooting percentage in a single game during the NAIA era for any player that's attempted at least eight shots in a contest. Ozoani also notched her sixth straight double-double with 12 boards.
• Senior guard McKenzi Lamer also provided a spark off the MACU bench, pouring in a season-high 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including going 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.
• Sydney Wycoff also continued to put up blistering shooting numbers with another 17-point performance on 6-of-9, including 2-for-3 from three and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe to go with a team-high six assists, three steals and three rebounds.
• Senior forward Abby Bird rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting and dished out a season-high five assists. Kyleigh Leverich also provided a spark off the MACU bench with eight points and six assists in her own right.
• It was the first meeting between the two programs after UNT-Dallas joined the Sooner Athletic Conference as a provisional member last season. The Trailblazers are in their first season as a full-time member of the league.
• With the win, Mid-America Christian improved to 12-2 overall and 5-2 in conference play while UNT-Dallas fell to 8-5 and 2-5 against SAC competition.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now prepare for a challenging road contest against its crosstown rival. The Evangels will travel to Abe Lemons Arena on the north end of town to take on Oklahoma City for a 6 p.m. tip-off on Thursday.