OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU women's basketball team took care of business in its final contest of a three-game home stand as the Evangels breezed by Oklahoma Panhandle State 86-49 on Saturday afternoon inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
TOP PERFORMERS
- Shy Christopher – 25 Points, 7-12 FG, 10-13 FT, 7 Reb, 2 Steals
- Alexis Borgstadt – 14 Points, 3-6 FG, 7-10 FT, 5 Reb
- Aneli Thomsen – 9 Points, 3-5 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2 Reb
GAME SUMMARY
- First Quarter
- Mid-America Christian (18-4, 12-4 SAC) struggled offensively in the early going as the Evangels turned the ball over on five of their first seven possessions as Tateum Jones buried a three from the left wing with just over seven minutes to go to give Oklahoma Panhandle State (2-16, 2-13 SAC) the 7-4 lead.
- Over the next six minutes, the Evangels put together a dominant offensive and defensive run as MACU rattled off 16 unanswered points. After Shy Christopher scored the first seven MACU points of the contest, Alexis Borgstadt scored eight of the Evangels' 16 points in the run before Jaci Littell beat the Aggies down the court for a fastbreak lay-in with 1:10 to go to make it a 20-7 MACU advantage.
- The Aggies scored the next four over the final minute to knock it back down to single-digits, but Littell knocked down a pair of foul shots with seven seconds left to give Mid-America Christian the 22-11 lead after one.
- Second Quarter
- OPSU scored five of the first seven to start the period as Sierra Tate got a fastbreak floater in the lane to fall to close it to 24-16 with 8:41 to play.
- Sydney Savage ignited yet another dominant Evangels streak on the ensuing possession as Christopher made a strong drive and dish to the right block for Savage's layup. MACU scored the next 15 points as threes from Littell, Kyleigh Leverich and Whitney Outon preceded a pair of Borgstadt throws to swell the advantage to 39-16 at the 4:40 mark.
- The Aggies tried to battle back behind an 8-2 surge as Jamiya Clay scored all eight OPSU points in the run with her triple from the right wing with 53 seconds to go made it a 41-24 game.
- The Evangels did some damage from the free throw line over the final minute as Savage, Hallie Reed and Ashley Hopper combined to go 5-for-6 from the stripe to expand the MACU edge to 46-24 going into the break.
- Third Quarter
- Both teams were stone cold through the first two-and-a-half minutes as OPSU's Bianca Camello ended the drought for both teams with a long jumper, but the Evangels swung back with six straight as Thomsen knocked down a three from the right corner before a Christopher layup and foul shot with 6:49 remaining doubled up the MACU advantage at 52-26.
- The rest of the quarter went back-and-forth between the two squads as Christopher drew a foul and knocked down one of two free throws with two seconds left to make it a 61-39 game going into the final period.
- Fourth Quarter
- OPSU's Chevelle Ralstin had the hot hand through the first minute as she buried a pair of triples to knock the MACU edge below 20 at 63-45 with 9:06 to go.
- With 8:35 remaining, Christopher jumpstarted another dominant Evangels run as she ripped down a board and went the length of the court for left-handed euro-step layup. Christopher scored seven of MACU's 12 points during the 12-2 surge before Borgstadt knocked down two more from the line with just over four minutes remaining to set the score to 75-47.
- A Jamiya Eaddy layup at the 3:30 mark finally ended the OPSU drought, but that was the Aggies final score of the contest as the Evangels closed out with a string of 11 straight points as Thomsen and Reed hit threes on back-to-back possessions before Ashley Hopper knocked down a pair from the line with 34 seconds remaining to wrap-up the contest at 86-49.
GAME NOTES
- Mid-America Christian outshot Oklahoma Panhandle State in the contest after going 24-for-60 (40 percent) from the field and 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) from three while the Aggies finished 17-of-56 (30.4 percent) with an 8-for-22 (36.4 percent) clip from three.
- For the second time this season, the Evangels found themselves in the NAIA Era record book with their free throw shooting prowess. By going 30-for-42 (71.4 percent), MACU recorded the fifth-most attempts at the line in a single-game since the 2007-08 campaign. Meanwhile, the Evangels managed to keep OPSU off the line, holding the Aggies to just 7-of-11 (63.6 percent).
- It was a sloppy game for both teams offensively as Panhandle State committed 27 turnovers while the Evangels had 20 giveaways, however, the Evangels were more opportunistic off OPSU's giveaways as MACU held a 36-15 edge in points off turnovers.
- MACU was also commanding force on the glass as the Evangels outrebounded the Aggies 56-35 with a 25-12 edge on the offensive boards.
- The Aggies were unable to find a way to slow down Shy Christopher as she poured in a game-high 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting while going 10-for-13 from the free throw line to go with seven boards and a pair of steals.
- Alexis Borgstadt provided a major spark off the MACU bench, scoring 12 of her 14 points in the first half on 3-for-6 shooting and 7-of-10 from the stripe along with pulling down five rebounds.
- Jaci Littell was the only other Evangels player to crack double-figures with 10 points and despite shooting just 3-of-10 from the floor was able to go 3-for-4 from the foul line.
- Despite being relatively quiet in the score column, MACU's point guards Kyleigh Leverich and Sydney Wycoff made massive impacts as Leverich led the squad with eight rebounds while Wycoff dished out six dimes to three giveaways for a 2-to-1 assist-turnover ratio.
- With the win, Mid-America Christian completed the sweep of the season-series and extended its winning streak over the Aggies to nine straight games.
- MACU won its fifth straight game and continued to do so in dominant fashion. During the streak, the Evangels have outscored their opponents 455-290 with a 33-point margin of victory.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will open a tough week of facing a pair of NAIA Top 25 foes on Thursday, Feb. 2 as the Evangels will head to Chickasha, Okla. for a 6 p.m. tip-off against No. 19 Science & Arts inside the Drovers Fieldhouse.
