DALLAS – The MACU women's basketball team snapped its four-game skid in its final game of the first half of Sooner Athletic Conference play as a dominant second half performance propelled the Evangels to a 70-52 victory over UNT Dallas inside the Trinity Basin Preparatory Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Shy Christopher – 23 Points, 9-12 FG, 5-8 FT, 11 Reb, 3 Assists
• Jaci Calavan – 17 Points, 6-14 FG, 3-7 3FG, 2-2 FT, 5 Reb
• Mia Smith – 9 Points, 2-3 FG, 5-6 FT, 5 Reb, 2 Steals

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • UNT Dallas (2-9, 2-9 SAC) opened the contest by scoring the first six points as De'Asia Johnson's layup with 8:24 to go made it the 6-0 advantage for the Trailblazers.
  • Shy Christopher almost single-handedly willed Mid-America Christian (11-6, 5-6 SAC) back with three straight field goals to tie the game up at 6-all with 6:55 left before the Trailblazers answered with an 8-3 run over the next three minutes as a Kayla James three-pointer from the right wing gave UNTD its largest lead of the period at 14-9 with 3:40 remaining.
  • Christopher scored the first four points of an 8-0 Evangels run as Ashley Hopper finished it off with a layup in the low block off a Jaci Calavan drive and dish to give MACU the 17-14 advantage at the 2:01 mark.
  • An offensive rebound and putback by Sidney McHenry closed it back to a one-point game, but Sidney Savage converted one of two foul shots with 21 seconds left to push the MACU lead back out to 18-16 at the end of one.
• Second Quarter
  • The Trailblazes came out strong to start the second quarter, stringing together a 10-3 run grab its largest lead of the period on ZyUnn Cormier's foul shots with 7:06 left to make it 26-21.
  • A Christopher three-point play on the and-one off her own miss followed by a Calavan three-ball from the right wing tied it up at 26-all at the 6:06 mark, but two UNTD three-pointers from James and Bills managed to give UNT Dallas the 32-28 edge with 4:52 to go.
  • The Evangels eventually worked it back down to a one-point game at 36-35 on Christopher's foul shot with 1:23 to go, but the Trailblazers scored the last three points over the final minute to take a 39-35 lead into the halftime break.
• Third Quarter
  • MACU and UNTD traded the first four buckets as a Calavan three-ball closed it to a one-point game before an offensive board and putback by Sanaa Murphy-Showers made it a 43-40 game with 6:28 left.
  • After both teams combined to score just one point over the next two minutes on a Savage free throw at the 6:02 mark, a Calavan three-ball gave Mid-America Christian the lead for good at 44-43 with 4:46 left.
  • The Evangels closed out the quarter with an 11-0 run as a pair of Mia Smith free throws with 46 seconds remaining gave MACU the 51-43 advantage at the end of three.
• Fourth Quarter
  • The Evangels scored the first four to start the final period with Smith tallying them all on a layup and two free throws before the Trailblazers snapped their 9:18 scoreless streak with a Cormier steal and fastbreak lay-in at the 7:10 mark, setting the score to 55-45.
  • On the ensuing possession, Calavan knocked down a long two with her toe on the line to ignite a 10-unanswered streak as a strong Kylee Scheer drive down the left lane extended MACU's lead to 65-45 with 4:03 to go.
  • A Karley Miller three from the top of the key with 2:43 left gave the Evangels their largest lead of the contest at 68-47 as MACU cruised to a 70-52 victory.

GAME NOTES

• As a team, Mid-America Christian shot 24-of-57 (42.1 percent) from the field and 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) from three while converting on 18-of-28 (64.3 percent) from the free throw line while holding UNT Dallas to 19-for-54 (35.2 percent) shooting, including 4-of-20 (20 percent) from three while knocking down 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) from the charity stripe.
• MACU outscored UNT Dallas 35-13 in the second half, limiting the Trailblazers to just 6-of-26 (23.1 percent) from the floor and 0-for-7 from three.
• The Evangels thoroughly dominated the rebounding battle, doubling up the Trailblazers 54-27 with an astounding 20-4 margin in offensive boards and finishing with a 20-10 margin in second chance points.
• Shy Christopher put up a monstrous game for the Evangels, recording her third career double-double with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, going 5-for-8 from the line to go with 11 rebounds to go with three assists.
• Jaci Calavan was the only other MACU player to finish in double-figures, scoring 17 points while shooting 6-for-14, going 3-of-7 for three and 2-for-2 from the line to go with three boards.
• Mia Smith provided a spark off the MACU bench, scoring nine points to go with five boards and a pair of steals.
• Since UNTD joined the SAC in 2021, the Evangels are 5-0 in the all-time series while winning by an average of 21.8 ppg.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will open the second half of SAC competition with a huge home contest as the Evangels will face off against Wayland Baptist on Thursday, Jan. 25 for a 6 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center.