OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU women's basketball team faced off against Wayland Baptist in a crucial Sooner Athletic Conference battle to open the second half of league play as the Evangels won a thriller by taking the lead in the final minute and putting the game away from the free throw line for a 69-62 victory on Black Out Night inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Thursday.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Shy Christopher – 22 Points, 9-22 FG, 4-6 FT, 4 Assists, 2 Steals
• Jaci Calavan – 18 Points, 4-14 FG, 2-6 3FG, 8-8 FT, 6 Reb, 2 Steals
• Kylee Scheer – 12 Points, 4-10 FG, 4-8 3FG, 6 Reb, 4 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Both teams were ice cold to start the contest as neither team scored through the first five minutes. Mid-America Christian (12-6, 6-6 SAC) opened by going 0-for-11 from the field while Wayland Baptist (15-4, 10-3 SAC) started 0-of-6 while committing nine turnovers before making its first field goal.
  • With 4:42 left, Shy Christopher finally put the Evangels on the board with a diagonal running jumper in the paint, jumpstarting a 10-unanswered run by MACU that was capped off on a Jaci Calavan three-pointer from the left corner with 2:42 left.
  • A pair of Megan Nestor free throws with 2:12 remaining were the Flying Queens' first points of the contest, but a Calavan midrange jumper followed by a Kylee Scheer triple from the left wing off the inbound with just over a minute left gave MACU its largest lead of the game at 15-2.
  • An Emily Sigala three with 25 seconds left briefly trimmed WBU's deficit down to single digits, but Ashley Hopper finished strong on the Evangels' final possession to push it back to a 17-7 game at the end of one.
• Second Quarter
  • Over the first three minutes, the Flying Queens scored six of the first eight to cut it to a six-point game on Linda Brice's steal and fastbreak layup with 7:22 left, but Mid-America Christian, but the MACU defense clamped down over the next two-and-a-half as the Evangels scored seven-straight with Karley Miller making it a 26-13 game with her open three from the right wing at the 5:34 mark.
  • Wayland Baptist held MACU to just one field goal over the final five minutes while stringing together a 15-4 run over the stretch to close it to a 30-28 game heading into the halftime break.
• Third Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian started the second half with a 10-3 run as Christopher's drive and dish to Alexis Borgstadt for the left-handed lay-in stretched the edge to 40-31 with 6:35 remaining.
  • The Flying Queens scored five-unanswered over the next two minutes to close it to a four-point game before the Evangels swung back with five-straight of their own off another Scheer three before Christopher went coast-to-coast off the steal and fastbreak lay-in, setting the score to 45-36 with just over four minutes to go.
  • Wayland Baptist once again put together a strong surge over the final four minutes, scoring eight of the next 11 to close it to 48-45 at the end of three on Bobbie Fouquet's three with 35 seconds left.
• Fourth Quarter
  • A Scheer three from the left side at the 8:51 mark pushed the Evangels' lead back out to four before the Flying Queens scored the next five, taking their first lead at of the game on another Fouquet long-ball with 7:04 to go to make it 52-51.
  • The next six minutes were a tug of war between both teams that saw the lead exchange hands seven times with neither team leading by more than two before Christopher put MACU up for good with a fallaway running jumper down the left side to set the score to 61-60 with 55 seconds remaining.
  • Mid-America Christian came up with huge defensive stops on back-to-back possessions while Calavan stretched the MACU advantage to two possessions by going 4-for-4 to set it to 65-60 with 22 seconds to go.
  • While a Nestor finish in the low post on the ensuing possession closed it to a three-point game with 13 seconds left, Nestor made a huge mistake following a MACU timeout as the forward was called for reaching across the sideline on the Evangels' inbound pass, prompting a technical foul call that allowed Calavan to step to the line for four more free throws in the final 13 seconds to wrap-up the 69-62 final.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian overcame its 0-for-11 start to finish 24-for-68 (35.3 percent) from the field, going 7-for-19 (36.8 percent) from three and converted on 14-of-18 (77.8 percent) free throw attempts.
• While Wayland Baptist was able to shoot a slightly more efficient 23-of-55 (41.8 percent) from floor, the Evangels held WBU to just 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from three and made just 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) from the charity stripe.
• Even though the Flying Queens were able to win the rebounding battle by a 45-39 margin, Mid-America Christian's defense managed to force WBU into committing 22 turnovers while the Evangels gave it away only 10 times with MACU holding a 20-10 edge in points off turnovers.
• Shy Christopher led MACU's scoring efforts with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-22 shooting, going 4-for-6 from the line to go with a team-high four assists and a pair of steals.
• Despite a tough shooting performance from Jaci Calavan, knocking down 4-of-14 from the field, the senior guard came up clutch for the Evangels from the line, going 8-for-8 to finish with 18 points while pulling down six boards and also tallied a pair of thefts.
• Kylee Scheer was the only other Evangel to crack into double-figures with 12 points while shooting a blistering 4-for-8 from the three-point arc to go with six boards and tying a team-high four assists.
• Mia Smith led MACU on the glass with a career-best eight rebounds while Alexis Borgstadt made a defensive impact with three steals.
• With the win, the Evangels were able to avenge a heartbreaking 78-76 loss at Wayland Baptist on a buzzer-beating layup to split the season series with the Flying Queens.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back at home on Saturday as the Evangels host Oklahoma Panhandle State for a 2 p.m. tip-off.