OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 25 MACU women's basketball team wrapped up the 2022 portion of the season with its biggest victory of the campaign thus far as the Evangels built a huge second half lead before holding on for the 83-77 win inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Shy Christopher – 26 Points, 10-15 FG, 2-3 3FG, 4-6 FT, 5 Assists, 4 Reb, 2 Steals
- Jaci Littell – 13 Points, 3-8 3FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Assists, 3 Steals, 2 Reb
- Aneli Thomsen – 10 Points, 4-7 FG, 6 Reb
- Whitney Outon – 7 Points, 3-5 FG, 9 Reb, 2 Blocks
GAME SUMMARY
- First Quarter
- Mid-America Christian converted on its first three three-point attempts through the first 1:05 as triples from Whitney Outon, Jaci Littell and Shy Christopher gave the Evangels the early 9-5 edge.
- After a Bailey Albright layup trimmed the MACU lead in half, the Evangels rattled off six-unanswered as a pair of Littell foul shots made it a 15-7 game with 6:26 to go.
- Sterling stormed back by scoring seven of the next nine points to close it to 17-14 at the 4:19 mark on a Taya Wilson layup off a Becky Stucky steal.
- With both teams going scoreless over the next 1:47, Christopher's second three-pointer of the contest ignited a 12-6 MACU surge as Ashley Hopper's lay-in pushed the Evangels' edge with 51 seconds left.
- Sterling's Kasen Schultz finished off the period by getting the layup to with five seconds left to make it a 29-22 game.
- Second Quarter
- The Sterling defense kept MACU off-the-board through the first 2:38 before back-to-back buckets from Stucky and Taya Wilson closed it 29-26 at the 8:21 mark.
- With six-and-a-half minutes left, Christopher ignited the Evangels offense by finishing off a three-point play with an excellent drive and scoop shot down the left baseline before Littell's steal led to a Kyleigh Leverich fastbreak three-ball to extend the MACU edge to 37-28 with just under six minutes to go.
- Sterling once again scored five straight to bring it back down to a two-possession game, but the Warriors were unable to climb any closer the remainder of the half as another Leverich long-range bomb brought MACU's advantage out to 42-35 with three minutes left.
- On both team's final possessions of the half, Christopher once again made a strong move down the left side by euro stepping between two defenders before finishing off the left-handed layup to beat the shot clock at the 18-second mark, but the Warriors' Karsen Schultz was able to draw a foul with 1.7 seconds left and knock down one of two free throws to make it a 45-40 game at the break.
- Third Quarter
- Mid-America Christian opened the second half as a Sydney Wycoff board and quick outlet to Littell led to another fastbreak three-pointer on MACU's first possession, but the Warriors scored five of the next six to bring it back to a 49-45 contest with just under eight minutes to go.
- After Bailey Albright finished off a score in the paint at the 6:37 mark, Aneli Thomsen ignited a MACU run with a midrange jumper from the right elbow as the Evangels scored 11 of the next 13 points, capped off on Leverich's three-pointer from the left corner off a press break to swell the MACU edge to 64-49 with 3:23 left.
- Sterling scored the next seven to trim the deficit to 64-56 with just under a minute remaining, but Thomsen gave MACU the momentum back going into the fourth quarter with another triple from the left corner off a press break to send it to 67-56 going into the final period.
- Fourth Quarter
- The Evangels defense clamped down on Sterling to start the fourth as the Warriors were held to just two points through the first 3:20 while back-to-back buckets from Outon and Christopher pushed the MACU advantage to 74-58 at the 6:46 mark.
- Even though an Albright three-pointer helped end the drought on the ensuing possession, MACU swung back to take its largest lead of the contest behind a Christopher steal and strong fastbreak finish at the rim before Wycoff pushed in a layup two possessions later with 4:17 left to make it a 79-61 game.
- Sterling got hot from behind the arc in the final four minutes as the Warriors drained four triples during a 14-2 surge as Kali Briar's field goal from downtown with 1:07 to go brought it back to a two-possession game at 81-75.
- After Ashley Hopper and Schultz traded scores to keep it at a six-point game, Wycoff made one of the biggest plays of the game on MACU's final possession as she ran down an offensive board on a missed shot from Littell as the Evangels dribbled it out to seal the 83-77 victory.
GAME NOTES
- Mid-America Christian put together its best shooting performance of the season in the victory as the Evangels shot a season-high 31-for-62 (50 percent) from the field and also shot a season-best 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from three-point range. Despite coming up short in the losing effort, Sterling also shot well, hitting on 30-of-70 (42.9 percent) of its attempts while also going 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) from downtown, including 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) in the fourth quarter.
- Even though both teams shot well from the field, MACU and Sterling each struggled from the charity stripe as the Warriors finished 9-for-15 (60 percent) while MACU mustered just a 11-of-20 (55 percent) conversion rate.
- The two teams were relatively even in their floor game as MACU held a 43-42 edge on the glass while both teams struggled in possession with each team committing 20 turnovers to go with 17 assists.
- Shy Christopher notched her second 20-point performance in the last three games as the redshirt sophomore guard poured in a career-high 26 points on 10-of-15 from the field, including 2-for-3 from three to go with a team-high five assists along with four rebounds and two steals.
- While Jaci Littell struggled from the field, shooting just 4-for-14, the junior guard shot well from behind the arc by knocking down 3-for-8 to finish with 13 points along with four assists and a team-best three steals.
- Aneli Thomsen rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers with 10 points on 4-of-7 from the floor to go with six boards.
- Kyleigh Leverich narrowly missed breaking into double figures as she went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc for nine points while dishing out four dimes and pulling down three boards.
- Whitney Outon led MACU on the glass with nine rebounds and seven points on 3-of-5 shooting and a pair of blocked shots. Sydney Wycoff also turned in a strong floor game with seven points to go with five boards and four assists.
- Mid-America Christian's win over Sterling is its first against a team ranked in the NAIA Top 25 this season. MACU's last top 25 win came against No. 9 Wayland Baptist (Texas) inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 20 last season.
- The Evangels have also now won three straight game against Sterling since the 2012-13 season and is also the team's first win over the Warriors at home.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will be looking to carry the momentum into its first game in 2023 as the Evangels will head to Fort Worth, Texas on Monday, Jan. 2 to take on Sooner Athletic Conference leader Texas Wesleyan. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside the Sid Richardson Center.
