OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 16 MACU women's basketball team will head down to Fort Worth, Texas for its final road game of 2023 as the Evangels will take on Texas Wesleyan on Thursday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. inside the Sid Richardson Center.
 
SEASON REPORT

• Record: 7-1 (1-1 SAC)
• Last Game: Won at Oklahoma Panhandle State – 77-46 – Dec. 2, 2023 – Goodwell, Okla.
• Stat Leaders:
  • Points: Kylee Scheer (160, 20.0 ppg), Shy Christopher (157, 19.6 ppg), Jaci Calavan (153, 19.1 ppg)
  • FG% (M-A, %): Sydney Savage (23-40, 57.5%), Ashley Hopper (25-45, 55.6%), Kylee Scheer (58-105, 55.2%)
  • 3FG% (M-A, %): Kylee Scheer (23-46, 50.0%), Jaci Calavan (19-43, 44.2%), Karley Miller (7-26, 26.9%)
  • FT% (M-A, %): Jaci Calavan (34-34, 100.0%), Kayla Highfill (10-10, 100%), Kylee Scheer (21-24, 87.5%)
  • Reb: Kylee Scheer (71, 8.9 rpg), Jaci Calavan (55, 6.9 rgp), Ashley Hopper (48, 6.0 rpg)
  • Assists: Mia Smith (32, 4.0 apg), Kylee Scheer (25, 3.1 apg), Sydney Adee (21, 2.6 apg)
  • Steals: Kylee Scheer (28, 3.5 spg), Jaci Calavan (14, 1.8 spg), Two Tied (11)
  • Blocks: Ashley Hopper (6, 0.8 bpg), Sydney Savage (4, 0.5 bpg)
• Team Notes:
  • Mid-America Christian bounced back from a tough loss at Wayland Baptist with a defensively dominant performance at Oklahoma Panhandle State, holding its fourth opponent this season to less than 50 points in a 77-46 victory inside Anchor D Arena on Saturday.
  • Even though MACU's stingy defense only forced 15 Aggies turnovers, the Evangels defense frustrated OPSU into shooting just 23.9 percent from the floor, the lowest clip any team has shot against MACU this season while converting 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) from three while the Evangels allowed just 10 free throw attempts (6-for-10, 60 percent).
  • While most of MACU's scoring has come from its big three of senior guard Jaci Calavan and junior guards Kylee Scheer and Shy Christopher, the Evangels got some big time production off the bench from Ashley Hopper in the win over the Aggies as Hopper led the team with a career-high 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
  • The Evangels will be looking to get back on-track offensively as the Evangels have struggled offensively away from the Gaulke Activity Center. In its first six games inside the Gaulke, MACU was averaging 102.7 points per game while shooting 50.4 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from three-point range. In its first two away games of the season last week, the Evangels combined to score 76.5 ppg on 36.2 percent from the floor and 37.0 percent from beyond the arc.

SCOUTING REPORT
Texas Wesleyan

• Record: 5-3 (1-1 SAC)
• Last Game: Lost at Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) – 73-70 – Dec. 2, 2023 – Waxahachie, Texas
• Series vs MACU (2009-): MACU leads 19-6
• Last Game vs MACU: MACU won 90-66 – Feb. 4, 2023 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Series Streak: MACU won 1
• Players to Watch:
  • Rykeyah Gant – FR – F
    • 127 Points (15.9 ppg), 42-76 FG (55.3%), 42-57 FT (73.7%), 46 Reb (5.8 rpg), 11 Steals (1.4 spg), 6 Blocks (0.8 bpg)
  • Mary Nyakundi – SR – G
    • 66 Points (8.3 ppg), 22-50 FG (44.0%), 7-16 3FG (43.8%), 15-19 FT (78.9%), 17 Reb (2.1 rpg), 16 Assists (2.0 apg), 8 Steals (1.0 spg)
  • Savanna Smith – SR – G
    • 65 Points (8.1 ppg), 19-56 FG (33.9%), 6-28 3FG (21.4%), 21-24 FT (87.5%), 21 Reb (2.6 rpg), 8 Assists (1.0 apg)
• Team Notes:
  • Texas Wesleyan is coming off a tough road loss at Southwestern Assemblies of God on Saturday. After a back-and-forth battle that saw both teams battle to take double-digit leads, the Lady Rams battled back to make it a two-point game on a pair of Mary Nyakundi free throws with 16 seconds left. After the Lady Lions made one-of-two free throws after a quick foul, TWU had a chance at a game-tying three, but Kamryn Gibson's attempt from the right wing rattled in-and-out to allow SAGU to hang on for the 73-70 win.
  • The Lady Rams rank in the middle of the pack of the Sooner Athletic Conference in scoring offense at 68.3 ppg. While TexWes sits in seventh in the league in both shooting percentage (38.9) and three-point shooting percentage (25.6 percent), the Lady Rams have been the best in the conference at getting to the foul line, making a league-best 150 throws on 204 attempts for fourth-best percentage (73.5).
  • Under first year head coach Scott Hyland, the Lady Rams feature a relatively new lineup from last year's SAC Championship squad, headlined by Rykeyah Gant. The freshman forward is the only player on the team averaging in double-figures, scoring at 15.9 ppg on a highly efficient 55.3 percent shooting clip while also leading TWU on the glass at 5.8 rpg. Overall, TexWes poses a balanced lineup with five different players averaging more than seven points per game.
  • While Mid-America Christian holds a commanding lead in the all-time series against Texas Wesleyan, the two squads have been relatively evenly matched the last two seasons with MACU holding a 3-2 edge in their five previous games. In their last meeting inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Feb. 4, the Evangels played one of their best games of the season in the NAIA Top 25 match as MACU cruised to a 90-66 victory. In that win, Shy Christopher balled out to the tune of 25 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists.