WAXAHACHIE, Texas – Despite the wintry weather pushing the No. 21 Mid-America Christian women's basketball team's matchup against UNT Dallas back a day and moving the venue to SAGU's Sheaffer Center, the Evangels were able to ride their dominant defense to a 59-42 victory over the Trailblazers on Sunday.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Sydney Wycoff – 13 Points, 5-9 FG, 2-5 3FG, 4 Reb, 3 Steals
• Ossyana Ozoani – 12 Points, 5-10 FG, 2-3 FT, 11 Reb, 3 Steals
• Presley Payahsape – 12 Points, 6-19 FG, 5 Assists, 3 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • While Mid-America Christian was able to hold the early lead, UNT Dallas kept it close through the first four minutes as a Mykayla Dumas pull-up jumper closed the Evangels' edge to 6-5 with 6:28 left.
  • A long three-pointer by Lexi Hernandez jumpstarted a seven-unanswered swing for MACU as a steal and fastbreak layup by Sydney Wycoff and an Ossyana Ozoani layup off a great Presley Payahsape dish extended the Evangels lead to 13-5 with 4:06 remaining.
  • UNTD's Delyssa Miller knocked down a three with just over three minutes to go to start a 9-0 Trailblazers run as Dumas jumpshot with 28 seconds left gave UNT Dallas its only lead of the game at 16-15.
  • With six seconds to go, Abby Bird was able to put the Evangels in-front before the end of the period with a tough contested layup in the paint, bringing the score to 17-16.
• Second Quarter
  • The Evangels defense stifled the Trailblazers to start the second, holding UNTD scoreless over the first 4:55.
  • Payahsape put in a left-handed lay-in to start a string of eight straight for MACU and capped the run herself with a turnaround jumper with 5:36 on the clock to extend the edge to 25-16.
  • An Aneli Thomsen midrange jumper and a McKenzi Lamer three-ball with 3:07 to go gave Mid-America Christian its largest lead of the half at 30-17.
  • MACU went cold over the final three minutes while UNT Dallas found its first field goal of the period on a Kaiyla Payne jumper with 2:45 left before Delyssa Miller allowed the Trailblazers to bring to single-digits at 30-21 before half on a layup with 1:24 left.
• Third Quarter
  • While UNTD's Tamia Miller was able to record the first score of the second half on a steal and fastbreak layup with 8:36 remaining, a Wycoff layup on the other end ignited a five unanswered run for MACU to reclaim a double-digit lead at 35-23 with 6:29 to go.
  • Following a pair of Dumas free throws at the 6:08 mark, the Evangels tallied 10 straight over the next four minutes as an Anna Kash layup off a stellar Kyleigh Leverich inbound pass made it MACU's largest lead of the game at 45-25 with 1:59 left.
  • UNT Dallas once again finished the quarter strong by scoring the final five points on a Zyunn Cormier three and a Tamia Miller layup to bring it to a 45-30 game heading into the fourth.
• Fourth Quarter
  • While a Lamer layup on MACU's first possession pushed the Evangels' advantage back out to 17, the Trailblazers responded with a nine-unanswered surge as two Delyssa Miller free throws with 4:20 left trimmed it to a single-digit lead at 47-39.
  • Following back-to-back turnovers, Ozoani extended it back to double-figures on a hoop and the harm with 3:47 to go. Despite missing the free throw, Ozoani responded in a big way by forcing a turnover on the Trailblazers next possession, leading to a Wycoff three-pointer from the right corner to make it a 52-39 contest with just under three minutes left.
  • Wycoff came up with another big three from the right wing on the ensuing possession to swell the advantage to 55-39 with 2:07 left.
  • After Dumas buried a pair of throws with just over a minute remaining, Wycoff was able to get into the paint and get a right-handed layup to fall before coming up with her third steal of the game, leading to a Jade Millan lay-in to bring it to 59-41 with 27 seconds on the clock.
  • Delyssa Miller knocked down 1-of-2 free throws after a foul was called with a second left to cap off the 59-42 final.

GAME NOTES

• While Mid-America Christian struggled on the offensive end, finishing with just a 25-for-63 (39.7 percent) shooting clip and 4-of-20 (20 percent) from three, the Evangels were able to find some rhythm in the fourth quarter, converting on 6-of-11 (54.6 percent) from the floor and 2-for-4 (50 percent) from beyond the arc.
• The Evangels defensively held UNT Dallas to its second-lowest scoring output of the season, scoring on just 15-of-50 (30 percent) of its shots and 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) from three-point range.
• MACU was able to get back on-track on the glass, outrebounding the Trailblazers by a 42-34 margin while also holding a slight edge in the turnover battle at 13-to-15.
• Sydney Wycoff led a balanced scoring effort with 11 different players scoring MACU's 59 points, turning in 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting and went 2-for-4 from three to go with four rebounds and three steals in the defense. Wycoff scored eight of her 13 points in the final three minutes of the contest.
• Ossyana Ozoani led the rebounding efforts with her 14^th double-digit board game at 11 while also tallying her 13^th double-double of the season with 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting and 2-for-3 from the charity stripe while also notching three steals.
• Presley Payahsape rounded out the double-digit scorers with 12 points on 6-for-19 shooting, but was able to shoot a more efficient 6-of-14 from two-point range while also dishing out a career-high five assists.
• In their first season as Sooner Athletic Conference rivals, Mid-America Christian swept the season series against UNT Dallas after coming away with a 99-74 win over the Trailblazers inside the Gaulke Activity Center back on Jan. 3.
• After No. 12 Wayland Baptist picked up a win over Oklahoma City yesterday, the Evangels moved back into a tie with the Flying Queens at the top of the SAC standings with each team holding a 15-2 league mark.
• The win improved MACU's season record to 22-2 while UNT Dallas fell to 10-14 with a 4-13 mark against SAC competition.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will return home on Thursday, Feb. 10 as the Evangels will prepare to host Oklahoma City for a 6 p.m. tipoff inside the Gaulke Activity Center.