GREENVILLE, S.C. – The National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) announced its All-Central Region Team on Monday night as four members from the Mid-America Christian women's basketball team were selected to the esteemed list.
Voted upon by the region's eight head coaches, senior forward Ossyana Ozoani and senior guard Lexi Hernandez were named to the First Team while senior forward Presley Payahsape and junior guard Sydney Wycoff were named to the Second Team.
After earning a Second Team nod last season, Ozoani garnered the third-most votes of any player in the region. Ozoani is currently the Evangels' leading scorer with 379 points (12.6 ppg) while boasting the squad's highest field goal percentage (56.3 percent) and is averaging a double-double with a team-best 323 rebounds (10.8 rpg).
A fifth-year senior, the 5-10 forward has reached many milestones and broken multiple records, becoming just the third player in the NAIA era to eclipse 1000 career points while also breaking both the program's single-season rebound record (Karina Trindade, 304 – 2008-09) and career rebound record (Alexis Shannon, 757 – 2017-20).
Ozoani has recorded 16 double-doubles during the 2021-22 campaign, which include a 25-point, 19-rebound performance against Southwestern Assemblies of God on Jan. 1 and a 16-point, 19-board outing against Langston on Jan. 15.
Earning First Team honors for the second year in a row, Hernandez the 2020-21 NCCAA Central and National Player of the Year heads into postseason play as the team's second-leading scorer with 355 points (12.2 ppg) on 44.7 percent shooting while being team's best three-point shooter at 59-of-149 (39.6 percent) to go with 111 rebounds (3.8 rpg), 81 assists (2.8 apg) and just second to Ozoani in steals with 49 (1.7 spg). Her 2.3 assist/turnover ratio also ranks as the sixth-best in all of the NCCAA.
The 5-6 guard from Canyon, Texas currently holds several NAIA era career top 10 records, including points (937, seventh), assists (188, sixth), steals (137, fifth), three-pointers made (171, second) and field goals made (325, sixth).
Earning NCCAA All-Region honors for the second straight year, Payahsape was once again one of the offensive leaders for the Evangels. One of three MACU players to average in double-digit scoring, Payahsape so far this season has scored 305 points (10.9 ppg) on 34.6 percent shooting, 28.2 percent from three and is averaging 3.4 rpg to go with 41 assists and a team-best 15 blocked shots.
The Cashion, Okla. product poured in a season-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including going 5-for-7 from three in a 103-39 win over Bacone on Oct. 27 and knocked down five more threes on 5-of-10 from the arc in a 19-point performance against Southwestern Christian in a 65-54 win on Jan. 24.
Rounding out the Evangels honorees, Wycoff is collecting her first NCCAA All-Central Region award. The 5-6 guard from Ankeny, Iowa is in the midst of her best year offensively, scoring 261 points (8.7 ppg) on 48.6 percent shooting and has pulled down 126 rebounds (4.2 rpg) to go with 74 assists (2.5 apg) and is tied for second on the team with 49 steals (1.6 spg).
In a thrilling 83-74 win over No. 9 Wayland Baptist on Jan. 20, Wycoff dished out a career-high eight assists while committing no turnovers and scored a season-high 17 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
Mid-America Christian is in the midst of its best season in program history, as the Evangels head into postseason play with a 27-4 overall (.871) and recorded a SAC record 19 wins (19-3, .864). With a win over Oklahoma City in the SAC Quarterfinal on Feb. 25, the Evangels tied the program record for the most victories in a single season (2004-05, 27-8).
MACU is now preparing for the NAIA National Championship Tournament as the Evangels will be playing the Opening Round games at the Garvey Center in Wichita, Kan. on Mar. 11-12. Sixth-seeded MACU will face No. 11 seed Briar Cliff (Iowa) at 2 p.m. on Friday and if they win, will advance to play the winner of No. 3 seed Clarke (Iowa) and 14th-seed Tabor (Kan.) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
