WICHITA, Kan. – The No. 24 and sixth-seeded Mid-America Christian women's basketball team pulled away in the second half for a 76-64 victory over No. 11 seed Briar Cliff (Iowa) for not only the program's first ever NAIA National Championship Tournament victory, but also notched MACU's season record-setting 28^th victory inside the Garvey Center in Friday's NAIA Opening Round matchup.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Ossyana Ozoani – 20 Points, 9-13 FG, 2-3 FT, 11 Reb, 3 Steals, 2 Assists
• Lexi Hernandez – 12 Points, 5-11 FG, 2-5 3FG, 4 Steals, 3 Reb, 2 Assists
• Anna Kash – 10 Points, 4-6 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2 Steals, 2 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Lexi Hernandez got the scoring going for Mid-America Christian by knocking down a three-ball from the left wing, but the Evangels went cold over the next two minutes as five Konnor Sudmann points allowed Briar Cliff to jump out to a 5-3 edge with 6:14 to go.
  • Hernandez once again put MACU back in-front with another three before Sudmann's seventh-point gave the Chargers their last lead of the quarter at 7-6 nearing the midway point.
  • After an Ossyana Ozoani three-point play and followed by a Kaegan Held layup tied it at 9-9, the Evangels went on a seven-unanswered surge capped off on a Sydney Wycoff three-pointer from the left corner to make it a 16-9 game with 3:43 left.
  • Briar Cliff closed the gap by going on an 8-1 run over the final three minutes, but Kyleigh Leverich was able to draw a foul and knock down one of two free throws to bring it to a 21-19 Evangels lead after one.
• Second Quarter
  • Ozoani opened the second half with a layup, but Briar Cliff charged back with five unanswered as Held's bucket with 8:27 to go gave BCU the 24-23 lead.
  • Two possessions later, Presley Payahsape made a nice spin move in the lane for a left-handed layup to put MACU back in-front as the Evangels scored eight unanswered to stretch the edge to 31-24 on a McKenzi Lamer layup with 5:21 on the clock.
  • Sudmann drained a three on the next possession to briefly stop the run, but the Evangels rattled off another seven straight wrapped up on a Payahsape triple from the left wing, giving MACU its largest lead of the half at 38-27 with 3:03 to go.
  • Mid-America Christian went cold over the final three minutes as the Chargers streaked back with nine-unanswered to close it to a 38-36 game heading into the half.
• Third Quarter
  • The Chargers outscored the Evangels 7-5 through the first two-and-a-half minutes of the second half as BCU tied it up at 43-43 on a Sudmann three-pointer with 7:34 remaining.
  • Anna Kash's lay-in following an Ozoani offensive board on the ensuing possession sparked a dominant 10-2 MACU run over the next three minutes as Abby Bird's strong take to the basket stretched the edge to 53-45 with 4:15 left.
  • A good move by Madelyn Deitchler with just over three minutes to go only briefly stopped the MACU run as the Evangels continued to pull away by scoring nine of the next 12 as Hernandez knocked down a jumper to stretch the advantage to 62-50 with 37 seconds to the buzzer.
  • Briar Cliff managed to knock the MACU lead below double-digits on the final possession of the period as Mya Hendry offensive rebound led to a Cadence Davis three-ball with five seconds left to set the score to 62-53 heading into the final quarter.
• Fourth Quarter
  • A Held score in the opening minute briefly pulled the BCU deficit to seven, but a Kash three stretched the lead back out to double-digits at 65-55 with 8:49 left.
  • The Evangels went blow-for-blow with the Chargers over the course of the quarter as Briar Cliff was unable to knock the MACU advantage to below seven for the remainder of the quarter.
  • Midway through the period, the Evangels rattled off five unanswered behind Kash's second three of the day and a Hernandez steal and fastbreak pull-up to stretch the lead out to 74-62 with 3:54 to go.
  • Sudmann got the lay-in to fall with 3:24 remaining, but the Mid-America Christian defense dominated the rest of the way by not allowing another Chargers score as Kash's layup with 43 seconds left sealed the 76-64 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian put together a strong offensive performance, shooting 30-for-61 (49.2 percent) for the game and knocked down 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) from three while also converting on 9-for-13 (69.2 percent) from the free throw line.
• After Briar Cliff shot 13-for-25 (52 percent) in the first half, the Evangels defense clamped down in the second half by holding the Chargers to just 12-for-33 (36.4 percent) shooting to finish the contest at 43.1 percent from the field, 8-of-21 (38.1 percent) from downtown and struggled from the foul line by making just 6-for-13 (46.2 percent).
• Despite losing the rebounding battle by a 37-31 edge, Mid-America Christian performed much better in their offensive execution, committing just 10 turnovers, including only two in the first half while forcing 17 BCU miscues.
• Ossyana Ozoani continued to a double-double machine for MACU, finishing with a team-high 20 points on a blazing 9-for-13 from the field and 11 rebounds to go with three steals. It was Ozoani's 17^th double-double of the season while notching her fourth straight.
• Lexi Hernandez put up a strong performance offensively and defensively, finishing with 12 point on 5-for-11 from the floor and 2-of-5 from three to go with a game-high four steals.
• Anna Kash provided a big time spark off the bench as she rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Kash scored eight of MACU's 14 points in the fourth quarter.
• Konnor Sudmann was the lone Charger that the Evangels struggled to slow down as she finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-for-17 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three to go with four boards.
• In just their second appearance to the NAIA Opening Round, head coach Hannah Moeller led the Evangels to their first ever NAIA Tournament victory. MACU earned its first bid to the NAIA tourney last season, but the Evangels dropped a hard-fought 85-83 decision to Columbia (Mo.) in Park City, Kan. on Mar. 12, 2021.
• The victory also gave the Evangels the program record for the most wins ever in a single season in the existence of the MACU women's basketball program. The Evangels tied the record set by the 2004-05 squad that went 27-8 and finishing as a finalist in 56-48 loss to Kentucky Christian in the NCCAA Division II National Championships on Mar. 5, 2005.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will now prepare for its opportunity to advance to the NAIA National Championships final site as the Evangels will take on No. 3 seeded and nationally 14^th-ranked Clarke (Iowa) for a 3 p.m. tip-off inside the Garvey Center on Saturday in the NAIA Opening Round finale.