OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 22 Mid-America Christian women's basketball team battled back from a first half deficit with a big second half, pulling away with a 68-58 win over seventh-seeded Oklahoma City in the Sooner Athletic Conference Quarterfinal inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Friday night.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Ossyana Ozoani – 20 Points, 8-13 FG, 4-4 FT, 13 Reb, 2 Steals
• Abby Bird – 12 Points, 4-11 FG, 4-4 FT, 6 Reb, 2 Steals
• Lexi Hernandez – 9 Points, 8 Reb, 4 Assists, 2 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Oklahoma City opened the game with four unanswered on an Abby Selzer layup and a pair of Annilia Dawn free throws, but the Evangels fought back to tie it on a Kyleigh Leverich pull-up jumper and Ossyana Ozoani layup to make it 4-4 with just under eight minutes left.
  • Dawn and Presley Payahsape traded threes before Erika Ankney briefly gave the Stars the lead at 9-7 with 7:06 to go.
  • The Evangels surged in-front off of a pair of three-pointers from Lexi Hernandez and Leverich before an Anna Kash lay-in with 4:23 remaining push the MACU lead out to 15-10.
  • OCU closed it to two off of three foul shots, two coming from Dawn and one from Ankney, but the Evangels finished the period strong by scoring the final five on a pair of Abby Bird free throws and a Payahsape three-pointer with 2:04 to go, making it a 20-13 MACU advantage after one.
• Second Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian extended its edge out to as much as 10 after opening the quarter with a 5-2 spurt that was capped off on a Kash triple to make it 25-15 with 9:20 remaining.
  • Oklahoma City rattled off six straight to bring the MACU edge to four before MACU scored four of the next six as Hernandez's layup with just under five minutes to go brought the lead back out to 29-23.
  • The Stars closed out the half by scoring 11 of the final 13 points, including eight unanswered in the final three minutes while holding the Evangels scoreless over the final four minutes to take a 34-31 lead into the break.
• Third Quarter
  • Ozoani tied up Abby Selzer to get a steal on the first possession and MACU opened the half by scoring six of the first eight as Ozoani knocked down the layup off a great Hernandez pass to put MACU back in-front 37-36 with just over eight minutes to go.
  • The two squads traded leads three times over the next two minutes before Leverich drained a three-ball to give the Evangels a 42-40 edge with 5:40 left.
  • After two Selena Driskill free throws tied it back up, a Leverich steal led to a Hernandez fastbreak layup and a Bird lay-in gave the Evangels its largest lead of the quarter at 46-42 with 1:14 to go.
  • OCU trimmed its deficit in half heading into the final quarter on a pair of Fiona Wilson free throws to close to 46-44.
• Fourth Quarter
  • A quick Evangels turnover on the first possession led to OCU's Jordan Eaton knocking down a three, briefly putting Oklahoma City into the lead at 47-46.
  • An Ozoani six-foot jumper in the paint on the ensuing possession swung the advantage back to MACU as the Evangels went on an 8-2 run as another Ozoani lay-in with 7:39 remaining brought it to 54-49.
  • Wilson's layup at the 6:16 mark briefly made it a one-possession game at 56-53, but another strong Ozoani layup ignited a string of six straight as two Hernandez free throws along with a Hernandez fastbreak dish to Ozoani stretched the edge to 62-53 with 2:26 left.
  • An Elaine Witt layup with just over two minutes left briefly stopped the run, but Kash buried the dagger with 1:58 to go from the left wing to expand the edge to 65-55.
  • Oklahoma City could only score three points in the final two minutes as the Evangels sealed the game away from the free throw line to wrap-up the 68-58 final.

GAME NOTES

• In the defensive slugfest, Mid-America Christian was slightly more efficient on the offensive end, knocking down 24-of-69 (34.8 percent) from the field, 7-of-30 (23.3 percent) from three and converted an efficient 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) from the free throw line.
• The Evangels held the Stars to just 19-of-60 (31.7 percent) shooting, 5-for-20 (25 percent) from three and finished 15-for-19 (78.9 percent) from the charity stripe.
• While Oklahoma City held a slight 43-42 edge on the glass, the Evangels dominated the turnover battle by forcing 17 Stars giveaway while MACU committed just nine for the game.
• After being held to just two points and four rebounds in the first half, senior forward Ossyana Ozoani dominated in the second half, finishing with 20 points on 8-for-13 from the field, 4-for-4 from the free throw line and pulled down 13 rebounds to go with a pair of steals.
• Needing just five rebounds to break it, Ozoani surpassed Karina Trindade for the most rebounds in a single season during the NAIA Era, boosting her season total to 313 on the year.
• Abby Bird was the only other MACU player to break into double-digits with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting and converting 4-for-4 from the line to go with six boards, two assists and two steals.
• Lexi Hernandez narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and eight points while tying Presley Payahsape for the team-lead in assists with four to go with two thefts.
• Kyleigh Leverich added nine points on 3-of-5 from the field, including 2-for-4 from behind the arc to go with two boards, two assists and a pair of steals.
• After losing 30 straight to Oklahoma City coming into the 2021-22 season, the Evangels won all three of their matchups against the Stars.
• Mid-America Christian also picked up its first win over OCU in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. The Evangels had met the Stars in the SAC Tourney on four previous occasions with the closest matchup being an 87-85 defeat inside the Sheaffer Center on Mar. 4, 2016.
• With its 27^th victory of the season, Mid-America Christian matched the 2004-05 team for the most single season wins in program history as that NCCAA Division II Finalist squad went 27-8. Heading into the SAC Semifinals, the Evangels have amassed a 27-3 overall record.
• With the defeat, Oklahoma City sees its season come to an end with a 16-13 overall mark.

UP NEXT

• With Mid-America Christian hosting the Sooner Athletic Conference Semifinals and Championship, the Evangels will face No. 3 seed Texas Wesleyan for an 8 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Monday, Feb. 28.