WAXAHACHIE, Texas – The No. 20 Mid-America Christian women's basketball found its outside shooting stroke once again, knocking down a season-high 16-for-33 from the three-point arc as the Evangels cruised to an 85-62 road win against Southwestern Assemblies of God inside the Sheaffer Center on Monday night.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Presley Payahsape – 15 Points, 6-15 FG, 3-7 3FG, 8 Reb
• Abby Bird – 11 Points, 3-6 FG, 4-4 FT, 3 Reb
• Ossyana Ozoani – 9 Points, 4-7 FG, 14 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian got off to a blazing hot start, scoring the first 10 points as a pair of threes from Lexi Hernandez and Presley Payahsape as well as dual layups from Ossyana Ozoani made it a 10-0 MACU advantage with 7:16 remaining.
  • A Jazra Williams lay-in put Southwestern Assemblies of God on the board, but the Evangels continued to run away as Hernandez knocked down her second three on the ensuing possession before a Payahsape pull-up jumper and two Abby Bird foul shots made it a 17-2 lead with 4:30 left.
  • SAGU swung back with 10 unanswered over the next four minutes, closing it to a 17-12 game on a Rylee Lavender three-pointer with 40 seconds to go.
  • On the Evangels final possession of the period, Bird found a wide open McKenzi Lamer on a cross court pass as she buried a three-pointer from the left corner with 13 seconds left to push the MACU edge back out to 20-12 after one.
• Second Quarter
  • On SAGU's first possession of the period, Kyleigh Leverich came up with a steal that led to a Bird three-pointer, starting a nine-unanswered run capped off on another Lamer three to stretch it to a 29-12 MACU lead with 7:35 on the clock.
  • The Lady Lions fought back by rattling off seven of the next nine with Lavender's steal leading to a fastbreak layup for Neeley Tilley-Bedick to close it to 31-19 with 5:25 left.
  • Following a scoreless two-minute stretch for both teams, Anna Kash's three-ball ignited a string of seven straight for MACU as a Presley Payahsape triple extended the edge to 38-19 with 2:12 to go.
  • The closet the Lions could cut into the lead was 17 on a Mary Jo Parker jumper with 25 seconds left, but the Evangels took the momentum into the half as Kaylee Hurst knocked down a corner three with six seconds left to bring it to 44-24 at the half.
• Third Quarter
  • The Evangels scored the first 11 points out of the locker room, as Hernandez picked the pocket of Jaycie Brisco at halfcourt and went in for a fastbreak layup to swell the advantage to 55-24 with 6:20 to play.
  • A pair of Williams free throws finally put the Lions on the board, but a Leverich three and a pair of Wycoff free throws pushed it out to a 60-26 contest with 4:23 left.
  • Mid-America Christian took its largest lead of the game at the two-minute mark on a pair of Bird free throws, setting the score to 67-31.
  • After Aneli Thomsen's layup put it back to a 36-point edge at 69-33, SAGU rattled off the next six to close the gap to 69-39 with 29 seconds left.
  • The Evangels once again executed their final possession of the quarter to perfection, as Lamer drained her third triple of the game with 16 seconds to go to set the score to 72-39 heading into the fourth.
• Fourth Quarter
  • MACU scored four of the first six on layups from Thomsen and Payahsape to maintain the Evangels' edge at 76-41 with 8:33 to go.
  • The Lady Lions clawed back with a 10-1 spurt as a pair of Brisco foul shots closed it to 77-51 at the 5:37 mark.
  • Jade Millan and Lavender traded threes before Millan converted a fastbreak lay-in to put the MACU advantage to 82-54 with four minutes on the clock.
  • The Lions tallied the next five before Leverich knocked down MACU's season-high 16^th three-pointer from the right corner with 1:15 left to set the score to 85-59.
  • SAGU drained the final shot of the game on a Tilley-Bedick three with 21 seconds left to wrap up the 85-62 final.

GAME NOTES

• Offensively, Mid-America Christian shot 30-of-72 (41.7 percent), but knocked down its second-highest clip from the three-point arc on the season, going 16-for-33 (48.5 percent) to go with 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) from the charity stripe.
• The Evangels only allowed Southwestern Assemblies of God to shoot 21-for-68 (30.9 percent), including 5-for-30 (16.7 percent) from three, but the Lady Lions were able to gain some ground by converting 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) from the foul line.
• MACU dominated on the glass, outrebounding SAGU by an astounding 59-to-33 margin, 22 of which game on the offensive glass. However, the Lions were able to force the Evangels into committing 22 turnovers while making just 14 miscues on the offensive end.
• All 12 Evangels that competed entered the scoring column with just two players breaking into double-figures.
• Presley Payahsape led the MACU offensive efforts with 15 points on 6-for-15 shooting, burying 3-of-7 from beyond the arc while narrowly missing a double-double with eight boards.
• Abby Bird was the only other Evangel to crack double-digits with 11 points on 3-for-6 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line.
• Ossyana Ozoani narrowly missed a double-double with nine points on 4-for-7 from the field and ripped down a team-leading 14 rebounds.
• Kyleigh Leverich and Lexi Hernandez each provided an excellent floor game, as Leverich dished out a team-leading seven assists to go with six points while Hernandez scored eight points, pulled down four boards, dished out four assists and tallied four steals.
• Mid-America Christian bounced back after having its program-record 14-game win streak snapped at John Brown on Saturday.
• With the win, the Evangels improved to 24-3 overall and 17-3 in Sooner Athletic Conference play while the Lions fell to 9-17 with a 6-14 league mark.
• MACU swept the season series and picked up its fourth straight win against the Lady Lions. Mid-America Christian notched an 81-68 win against SAGU inside the Gaulke Activity Center on New Year's Day.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will return home on Thursday for a Senior Night matchup against Central Christian. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center with Senior Night festivities taking place immediately following the game.