OKLAHOMA CITY – Despite coming into the Gaulke Activity Center with just two wins on the season, the MACU women's basketball team faced a feisty Oklahoma Panhandle State team hungry for an upset, but the Evangels managed to pull away over the course of the second half with 65-53 win for their third-straight victory on Saturday afternoon.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Jaci Calavan – 15 Points, 3-7 FG, 2-4 3FG, 7-7 FT, 8 Reb, 4 Assists
• Shy Christopher – 13 Points, 4-8 FG, 5-7 FT, 3 Reb, 2 Assists
• Sydney Savage – 10 Points, 5-8 FG, 4 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Alexis Borgstadt gave Mid-America Christian (13-6, 7-6 SAC) an early 4-2 lead before Jana Radovanovic hit a contested right side three to give Oklahoma Panhandle State (2-15, 2-12 SAC) its first lead with 6:46 left.
  • The two teams battled back-and-forth over the next five minutes as a Sierra Tate lay-in made it a 14-14 game.
  • Shy Christopher's running midrange jumper started a five-unanswered run for the Evangels to close out the quarter as she finished off a three-point play with 35 seconds to go to make it a 19-14 at the end of one.
• Second Quarter
  • The Evangels took their largest lead of the half with 7:15 remaining as MACU opened with a 6-2 run off a pair of threes from Karley Miller and Kylee Scheer to set the score to 22-13.
  • With 5:04 to go, a Jamiah Clay jumper from the right elbow ignited a 10-unanswered Aggies run as a three-point play by Mariah Williams at the 48 second mark made it a 25-24 game.
  • Mid-America Christian managed to grab the lead just before the half when Mia Smith was able to find Hallie Reed open in the right corner on the fast break as her buzzer-beating triple gave MACU the 27-25 advantage.
• Third Quarter
  • MACU put together a strong 12-2 run through the first 4:03 as an old-fashioned three-point play by Jaci Calavan made it a nine-point game before Mia Smith's incredible steal and save on the end line led to a fastbreak three from the left wing for the senior guard, making it a 39-27 game with 5:53 remaining.
  • After gathering a defensive board, Calavan found Sydney Savage for the fastbreak layup with 3:14 left to give MACU its largest lead of the quarter at 43-30 before the Aggies strung together seven-unanswered streak as Carolyn Olvera drove down the right side for an open layup to cut it to a 43-37 game with 26 seconds to go.
  • Once again, the Evangels were able to finish off the period with a huge free from Reed as Scheer drove down the right lane before kicking it out to the senior guard on the left wing as her three-point buzzer beater stretched it to 46-37.
• Fourth Quarter
  • OPSU managed to knock it back down to a seven-point game on its first possession off a Diana Santos lay-in, but the Evangels followed it with a 10-0 surge as Calavan and Savage combined to score nine before Christopher buried one of two foul shots to give MACU its largest lead of the game at 56-39 at the 5:03 mark.
  • The Aggies countered with a 9-2 run over the next two minutes as Jamiah Clay squeezed through two MACU defenders for a left-side layup to trim the Evangels' edge down to 58-47 with 2:55 remaining.
  • The Evangels put the game out of reach over the next minute-and-a-half by scoring six of the next seven as Ashley Hopper scored four of the six on a layup and two free throws to set the score to 64-48 with 1:07 to go.
  • The Aggies were only able to knock it down to an 11-point game the rest of the way as a Kylee Scheer free throw with 16 seconds left wrapped up the 65-53 final.

GAME NOTES

• For just the second time this season, Mid-America Christian was held to under 50 shot attempts in a game as MACU shot 21-of-49 (42.9 percent) from the field while going 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) from three but did convert an efficient 17-of-22 (77.3 percent) from the foul line.
• Overall, Oklahoma Panhandle State had one of its more offensively efficient games of the season, shooting 19-for-43 (44.2 percent), including 5-of-15 (33.3 percent) from three and knocked down 10-for-12 (83.3 percent) from the free throw line.
• One of the biggest factors in MACU's positive outcome was due to its defense forcing 19 Aggies turnovers while committing just 12 of its own to finish with a 19-12 lead in points off turnovers.
• The Evangels were also able to win the battle on the glass with a 31-27 margin, which included a 12-7 edge on the offensive glass.
• After being held to no shot attempts in the first half, Jaci Calavan put together a huge second half for the Evangels, scoring a team-high 15 points on 3-of-7 shooting while going 2-for-4 from three and converted on all seven of her free throw attempts. Calavan also pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds to go with four assists.
• Shy Christopher also turned in a double-digit effort with 13 points on 4-of-8 from the floor and 5-for-7 from the line while Sydney Savage rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers with 10 points on 5-of-8 to go with four boards.
• Mia Smith provided a solid floor game for MACU with a team-high five assists with no turnovers and also pulled down four rebounds.
• With the victory, MACU has now improved to 11-1 all-time against the Aggies, winning 11 in a row since dropping the first ever meeting Jan. 11, 2018.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will have another short turnaround on Monday as the Evangels will host crosstown rival Southwestern Christian for a 6 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center.