OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU women's basketball team will be looking to get back on-track to close out the first half of Sooner Athletic Conference play while facing a tandem of Texas teams. The Evangels will host Southwestern Assemblies of God for a 6 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center before hitting the road for a contest at UNT Dallas at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
 
MACU SEASON REPORT

• Record: 10-5 (4-5 SAC)
• Last Game: Lost vs. (RV) John Brown (Ark.) – 70-62 – Jan. 13, 2024 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Stat Leaders:
  • Points: Jaci Calavan (266, 17.7 ppg), Shy Christopher (259, 17.3 ppg), Kylee Scheer (209, 13.9 ppg)
  • Field Goal Percentage (%, M-A): Ashley Hopper (51.6, 32-62), Shy Christopher (49.3, 99-201), Kylee Scheer (48.1, 76-158)
  • 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (%, M-A): Jaci Calavan (41.6, 32-77), Kylee Scheer (40.3, 29-72), Karley Miller (31.5, 17-54)
  • Free Throw Percentage (%, M-A): Kayla Highfill (100, 11-11), Jaci Calavan (91.2, 62-68), Kylee Scheer (84.8, 28-33)
  • Rebounds: Kylee Scheer (106, 7.1 rpg), Sydney Savage (96, 6.4 rpg), Jaci Calavan (88, 5.9 rpg)
  • Assists: Mia Smith (50, 3.3 apg), Kylee Scheer (38, 2.5 apg), Shy Christopher (30, 2.0 apg)
  • Steals: Kylee Scheer (33, 2.2 spg), Shy Christopher (22, 1.5 spg), Sydney Savage (18, 1.2 spg)
  • Blocks: Karley Miller (9, 0.6 bpg), Sydney Savage (8, 0.5 bpg), Ashley Hopper (8, 0.5 bpg)
• Team Notes:
  • After opening the season with a 9-1 record through November and December, Mid-America Christian is looking to get back on-track after going 1-4 through its first five games during the 2024 portion of the season.
  • While the Evangels showed some flashes of getting back to their old selves in their home game against John Brown last Saturday, MACU still struggled to generate fastbreak offense against the highly disciplined defensive Golden Eagles squad as MACU scored zero fastbreak points for the first time all season.
  • Currently rated as the second-best three-point shooting team in the SAC, MACU looked to get back on-track after a pair of rough outings from behind the arc against Southwestern Christian and Oklahoma City last week. After going a combined 5-for-35 (14.2 percent) in those two games, the Evangels went 11-for-26 (42.3 percent) from three in the loss to JBU.
  • In her new role coming off the bench against JBU, junior guard Kylee Scheer was able to get back on-track offensively. After scoring in double-digits in her first seven games as an Evangel, Scheer had struggled on the offensive end, braking in double-figures in just one of her last seven games. Against the Golden Eagles, Scheer poured in 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, going 3-for-4 from three.

SCOUTING REPORT
Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas)

• Record: 8-6 (5-4 SAC)
• Last Game: Won at Oklahoma Panhandle State – 102-44 – Jan. 13, 2024 – Goodwell, Okla.
• Series vs MACU (2005-): MACU leads 18-9
• Last Game vs MACU: MACU won 84-64 – Feb. 11, 2023 – Gaulke Activity Center
• Series Streak: MACU won 6
• Players to Watch:
  • Agar Garcia – JR – F
    • 159 Points (11.4 ppg), 61-117 FG (52.1%), 29-54 FT (53.7%), 160 Reb (11.4 rpg), 36 Assists (2.6 apg), 33 Steals (2.4 spg), 8 Blocks (0.6 bpg)
  • Rylee Lavender – SR – G
    • 157 Points (11.2 ppg), 52-148 FG (35.1%), 30-91 3FG (33.0%), 23-32 FT (71.9%), 40 Reb (2.9 rpg), 29 Assists (2.1 apg)
  • Chanie Chambers – JR – G
    • 134 Points (9.6 ppg), 46-124 FG (37.1%), 29-93 3FG (31.2%), 33 Reb (2.4 rpg), 23 Assists (1.6 apg), 23 Steals (1.6 spg)
• Team Notes:
  • Southwestern Assemblies of God split a pair of road contests last week. After falling 67-58 at Wayland Baptist on Jan. 11, the Lions bounced back with a dominant 102-44 victory at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday.
  • Offensively, SAGU ranks as one of the top five offensive teams in the SAC, posting the fifth-best scoring average (71.6 ppg) while having a balanced line with five players averaging between 8.0 and 12.0 ppg. The Lions primarily pride themselves on the defensive end, ranking third in the league in scoring defense (59.2 ppg) with the second-best field goal percentage defense (35.6) and fourth-best three-point defense (26.6).
  • In her first season with the Lions, junior forward Agar Garcia has been a statistical machine for SAGU, averaging a double-double at 11.4 ppg and 11.4 rpg while shooting a stellar 52.1 percent from the field, averaging a strong 2.6 assists per game as well as 2.4 steals per game on the defensive end.
  • Since the 2020-21 season, Mid-America Christian has fared well against Southwestern Assemblies as the Evangels have won six-straight in the series by an astounding 23.0 ppg. In their last meeting inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Feb. 11, SAGU hung with the Evangels, trailing by just three 35-32 at the halftime break. However, MACU came out strong in the second half to eventually pull away with the 84-64 victory. In that win, Aneli Thomsen led MACU with 18 points while Shy Christopher posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

UNT Dallas

• Record: 2-7 (2-7 SAC)
• Last Game: Lost at (RV) Wayland Baptist (Texas) – 97-56 – Jan. 13, 2024 – Plainview, Texas
• Series vs MACU (2021-): MACU leads 4-0
• Last Game vs MACU: MACU won 89-59 – Feb. 9, 2023 – Dallas
• Series Streak: MACU won 4
• Players to Watch:
  • ZyUnn Cormier – SR – G
    • 133 Points (16.6 ppg), 46-129 FG (35.7%), 20-47 3FG (42.6%), 21-25 FT (84.0%), 32 Reb (4.0 rpg), 8 Assists (1.0 apg)
  • Kayla James – JR – G
    • 80 Points (8.9 ppg), 31-81 FG (38.3%), 14-18 FT (77.8%), 26 Reb (2.9 rpg), 43 Assists (4.8 apg), 17 Steals (1.9 spg)
  • Sanaa Murphy-Showers – SO – G
    • 55 Points (6.1 ppg), 20-54 FG (37.0%), 13-24 FT (54.2%), 26 Reb (2.9 rpg), 14 Assists (1.6 apg)
• Team Notes:
  • In their third season in the Sooner Athletic Conference, UNT Dallas has struggled in league play as the Trailblazers enter their Thursday night contest at Southwestern Christian with just a 2-7 league mark with both wins coming against the SAC's two lowest ranked teams in the league in Central Christian and Oklahoma Panhandle State. After getting a 61-47 win against the Aggies on Jan. 11, UNTD had a rough go at Wayland Baptist on Saturday in a 97-56 defeat.
  • The Trailblazers have been challenged on the offensive end as they are one of just three teams in the conference averaging less than 60.0 ppg. UNT sits in 10^th at 55.8 ppg while shooting the third-worst percentage (35.0) from the field and the second-worst free throw percentage (60.3).
  • The only UNT Dallas player that is averaging in double-figures this season is senior guard ZyUnn Cormier, who is dropping 16.6 ppg on a 35.7 percent shooting clip, but knocking down a highly efficient 42.6 percent rate from three-point range and converting on 84.0 percent of her foul shots.
  • In their first four meetings, Mid-America Christian has dominated the series with the Evangels winning by double-digits in each of those games. In their last meeting down in Dallas on Feb. 9, the Evangels cruised to their largest margin of victory ever over the Trailblazers by a score of 89-59. In that win, Jaci Calavan finished with a game-high 29 points on 6-of-9 shooting, knocking down 3-for-3 from downtown while going 14-for-15 from the free throw line to go with four steals.