OKLAHOMA CITY – The MACU Women's Basketball team is once again expected to be in contention for the Sooner Athletic Conference Championship as the Evangels were tabbed second in the league's preseason poll on Tuesday morning.
The Evangels received 127 points and a first-place vote, finishing seven points ahead of Langston in third (120, 1) and 19 points in-front of conference newcomer College of the Ozarks in fourth (108, 1). Wayland Baptist was selected as the SAC preseason favorite, earning 142 points with 10 of the league's 14 first-place votes.
Mid-America Christian is coming off a fourth-place finish in last year's conference standings after going 22-9 overall and 15-7 in SAC play, but one of the positives to take away from the season was the Evangels were able to overcome a mid-season slump that saw MACU lose five of its first six games at the beginning of January before going on a massive 11-game win streak before losing its regular season finale at undefeated SAC Champion John Brown on Feb. 24.
MACU once again advanced to the SAC Semifinal after defeating rival Science & Arts 72-66 at the Gaulke Activity Center on Feb. 29, but once again fell to the league's champion JBU in the semifinal round in a hard-fought 71-63 affair.
However, the Evangels as a result of their strong season were selected to the NAIA Tournament for the fourth-straight season.
Mid-America Christian returns one of the top players in the league in redshirt senior guard Shy Christopher, who has been an All-SAC First Team selection the last two seasons. Over 59 games with MACU, the Jacksonville, Ark. product has scored 1112 points (18.8 ppg) on a stellar 49.3 shooting percentage while also averaging 5.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest.
The Evangels also return All-SAC Honorable Mention guard Kylee Scheer, who wrapped up her first campaign with MACU with 348 points (11.2 ppg) on a solid 45.2 shooting percentage and was also one of the team's top three-point (37.8 percent) and free throw (81.4 percent) shooters while leading the team in rebounding (189, 6.1 rpg) and steals (49, 1.6 spg) while also dishing out the third-most assists (73, 2.4 apg).
Overall, MACU brings back some high quality experience from across the court with the return of starting point guard Mia Smith, who finished second on the squad in assists with 77 (2.5 apg), graduate student forward Sydney Savage, who is coming off one of her best seasons at 5.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game and reserve senior forward Alexis Borgstadt, who in two seasons with MACU has contributed 6.5 ppg on a solid 43.0 percent shooting clip.
The Evangels not only return some talented key pieces from last year's squad, but they also bring in a wellspring of talent from the transfer portal, especially from the NCAA Division II level out of the Great American Conference.
The expected top newcomer is junior forward Harley Harbour, who comes to MACU after a two-year stint at Harding (Ark.). In two seasons with the Bisons, Harbour scored 255 points (4.3 ppg) while shooting 40.6 percent from the field to go with 241 rebounds (4.7 rpg). Harbour was especially solid in her sophomore season with HU, starting in 29 of the 32 games she played in 2023-24.
MACU also brought in a familiar with a graduate student transfer guard from Texas Wesleyan in Mary Nyakundi. The Wylie, Texas product was a key piece of a Lady Rams squad that won the SAC two seasons ago. Over the last three seasons, Nyakundi has scored 659 points (7.4 ppg) on a 33.1 percent shooting clip and is coming off her best year after averaging 11.7 ppg while knocking down 34.7 percent from three and 88.1 percent of her free throw attempts.
Another GAC transfer in Northwestern Oklahoma State's Talayah Thomas is also expected to make a major impact in her first season with the Evangels. The junior guard in her first two seasons with the Cowgirls scored 230 points (5.5 ppg) to go with 102 rebounds (2.4 rpg) and 49 assists (1.2 assists) along with 59 steals (1.4 spg).
The Evangels will officially open their 2024-25 season inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday, Nov. 2 as MACU hosts a high-profile Alumni Da contest against No. 14 Providence (Mont.) slated for a 2 p.m. tip-off.
