FORT WORTH, Texas – The No. 16 MACU women's basketball team survived another scare on the road, but the Evangels were able to rally in the second half to come away with a hard-fought 56-54 win at Texas Wesleyan inside the Sid Richardson Center on Thursday night.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Jaci Calavan – 22 Points, 8-18 FG, 4-11 3FG, 2-2 FT, 9 Reb
• Shy Christopher – 15 Points, 6-12 FG, 3-8 FT, 11 Reb, 4 Steals
• Ashley Hopper – 6 Points, 2-4 FG, 2-4 FT, 5 Reb, 2 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Both teams struggled offensively as neither team scored until Texas Wesleyan (5-4, 1-2 SAC) finally broke into the scoring column on Taryn Wills steal and fastbreak layup with 7:44 on the clock.
  • Jaci Calavan was finally able to get Mid-America Christian (8-1, 2-1 SAC) into the books three-and-a-half minutes in by recovering her own blocked shot and laying it in, but the Lady Rams countered with a 9-2 run as a Mary Nyakundi steal and fastbreak pull-up made it an 11-4 Lady Rams advantage with 4:37 left.
  • TexWes continued to frustrate MACU offensively over the next four minutes as the only two Evangels points came off a pair of Shy Christopher free throws until Calavan got her own board and putback with 47 seconds left to make it 13-8.
  • The Evangels closed out the quarter with a 4-0 run as an Ashley Hopper steal led to a Karley Miller fastbreak layup with 30 seconds left to set the score to 13-10 after one.
• Second Quarter
  • On MACU's first possession, Christopher drove down the left lane and scooped in a layup just 10 seconds in to make it a one-point game, but the Evangels once again went on a four-minute scoreless cold spell as TexWes stretched its lead out to 18-12 at the 9:16 mark on a pair of Wills free throws.
  • With 5:50 left, Christopher finally snapped the cold spell with a sensational eurostep layup through a double team for a left-handed lay-in to cut it to 18-14, but the Lady Rams eventually built their lead back out to seven at 24-17 with just under four minutes to go on a Kamryn Gibson free throw.
  • Christopher tried to will the Evangels back by scoring both of MACU's buckets during a 4-1 run to close it to 25-23 with 1:29 remaining, but MACU couldn't climb any closer as a Kayla Fuller layup and an Ainsley Velasquez free throw sent the Lady Rams into the half with the 27-24 advantage.
• Third Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian's offensive struggles carried over right away to start the second half as Texas Wesleyan scored the first four on a Gibson layup and a Rykeyah Gant offensive board and putback to extend the Lady Rams' edge to 31-24 at the 7:58 mark.
  • Right away on the ensuing possession, Mia Smith made a strong drive down the right lane and floated up a layup while the Evangels defense spurred a strong 13-1 run over the next four minutes as eight Calavan points on an Alexis Borgstadt layup preceded Ashley Hopper's foul shot to cap the run at 37-32 with 3:42 left.
  • The Lady Rams tried to rally back as a Gibson three from the right wing closed it to a one-point game with 1:50 to go, but Calavan extended it back to four on with a three-point splash from the left corner on Smith's drive and dish to make it a 44-40 MACU edge after three periods of play.
• Fourth Quarter
  • The Lady Rams scored the first bucket of the final quarter when Mary Nyakundi drove down the right lane and threw in a layup, but the Evangels quickly pushed it back out to six at 48-42 with 8:27 left on a pair of throws by Borgstadt and Calavan.
  • A Wills layup with 7:21 to go ignited a nine-unanswered Lady Rams run as Sophia Hurtado wrapped it up with a banked in three from the top of key to make it a 51-48 TexWes advantage at the 5:21 mark.
  • The Evangels immediately tied it up on the ensuing possession as Hopper was able to run down a loose ball on the left side and kick it out to Calavan for the open left wing three with 5:05 left.
  • With just over four minutes to go, Christopher put the Evangels in-front for good as she was able to sky for the offensive board and lay it back in to set the score to 53-51.
  • Both teams struggled to find offense over the next four minutes as the only Evangels bucket came when Christopher snared a defensive board and then quickly found Hopper on the breakaway who was able to pull down a high pass and scoop in a right-handed lay-in to stretch the edge to 55-52 with 1:45 to go.
  • A Wills layup with 50 seconds left brought it down to a one-point game, but the Evangels clamped down the rest of the way as the Evangels came up with two big defensive stops down the stretch to hold on for the 56-54 win as Wills 35-foot heave at the buzzer was well short.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian struggled offensively, shooting just 21-for-57 (36.8 percent) from the field and posted a season-fewest 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from three as well as shot a very uncharacteristic 10-of-20 (50.0 percent) from the free throw line. MACU offensively also committed a season-high 25 turnovers, 10 of which came in the first quarter.
• However, the Evangels defensively were just as effective, limiting Texas Wesleyan to just 19-for-58 (32.8 percent) shooting, including 5-of-20 (25.0 percent) from three while also converting just 11-for-23 (47.8 percent) from the free throw line.
• Even though Texas Wesleyan won the turnover battle with 19 giveaways to 25 for MACU, the Evangels dominated the glass by a 42-25 margin, including an 11-5 edge on the offensive end.
• The Evangels got most of their offensive production from Jaci Calavan and Shy Christopher, who combined to score 37 of MACU's 56 points. Calavan scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-18 shooting and even though she was just 4-of-11 from three, she went 4-for-8 from downtown in the second half. Calavan also finished just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds.
• On-top of being the only other Evangel to break into double-figure scoring, Christopher also finished with a career-high 11 rebounds for her second career double-double, scoring 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go with four steals on the defensive end.
• With the win, MACU improved to 19-6 all-time against Texas Wesleyan and avenged an 82-74 loss inside the Sid Richardson Center last season on Jan. 2.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back at home on Monday for a crucial Sooner Athletic Conference battle against Science & Arts. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.