OKLAHOMA CITY – Facing off against last year's NAIA National Tournament Runner-Up No. 2 Providence (Mont.) to open the 2024-25 season, an energized MACU Women's Basketball team came up with one of its biggest regular season victories in program history on Homecoming inside the Gaulke Activity Center as
Shy Christopher's 33-point performance paced the Evangels in their massive 69-64 win.
TOP PERFORMERS
GAME SUMMARY
- First Quarter
- While an early Taliah Lee three managed to put Providence (0-2) in-front 3-2 just 1:16 into the contest, Mid-America Christian (1-0) put together a 9-2 run to counter as Kylee Scheer and Shy Christopher combined to score all nine of MACU's points during the run to take an 11-5 lead with just over six minutes to go.
- While a Keanna Salvave'a offensive board and put-back briefly closed it to a four-point game, the Evangels were able to take advantage of an over-assertive Argos squad, going 6-of-8 from the charity stripe over the next four minutes before Hailey Tunnell hit a cold-blooded catch-and-shoot three from the right wing to cap off another 9-1 MACU run to make it 20-8 with 52 seconds left.
- Salvave'a for the Argos managed to close the gap with an and-one bucket with 35 seconds left and narrowly missed getting a buzzer-beating put-back, however, her shot was waved off after an official review showed the ball was still in her hand as the clock hit zero to keep it to 20-11.
- Second Quarter
- Mid-America Christian briefly pushed its lead back to double-figures on the opening possession as Kylee Scheer hit a stop-and-pop midrange jumper in the lane as time was winding down on the shot clock.
- However, the Argos answered back with vengeance, rattling off a 12-1 run over the next three-and-a-half minutes as back-to-back Lee threes drew the contest even at 23-23 with 5:42 left.
- The Evangels finally snapped its near five-minute long stretch of being held without a field goal as Scheer muscled a tightly-defended lay-in to beat the shot clock with 4:30 remaining to briefly put MACU back in-front 25-23, but UP closed out the half with another dominant surge, outscoring MACU 11-2 down the stretch to take a 34-27 lead into the halftime break.
- Third Quarter
- Coming out of the locker room, it was the Christopher show for the team's top scorer through the first four minutes as the senior guard scored MACU's first 12 points as the 12-2 run allowed the Evangels to take back the 39-36 advantage following Christopher's step-back three from the top of the key with 6:44 remaining, forcing the Argos to call a timeout.
- Providence briefly clawed it back to a one-point game on a pair of Salvave'a foul shots near the midway point, but Alexis Borgstadt helped spark another 10-unanswered run with her and-one on the ensuing possession. To close out the streak, Scheer drained a three from the right wing with 3:23 to go, swelling the MACU advantage to 49-38.
- The Argos managed to claw it back to a six-point game on a Monique Carter three with a minute-and-a-half to go, but MACU and UP went blow-for-blow on their possessions down the stretch as Christopher once again nimbly dribbled through the paint before finishing a contested left-hand lay-in with four second to go to send the Evangels into the fourth with the 57-48 lead.
- Fourth Quarter
- Much like the second quarter, the Evangels struggled to find a score against the Argos through the first four minutes as Providence opened the period with a 7-0 run capped off on a Carter jumper at the 6:14 mark closed it to 57-55.
- A Harley Harbour layup with 5:54 finally snapped MACU's cold spell, but the Argos once again surged back in-front by scoring seven of the next nine with a Kolby Pimperton lay-in with three-and-a-half left making it a 62-61 UP lead.
- With the Evangels defense coming up with several massive stops over the final minutes, Scheer gave MACU the lead for good at 63-62 with Scheer driving down the left side and scooping in the layup to beat the shot clock with 2:15 left.
- MACU came up with four enormous defensive stops over the final two minutes and managed to put the game away from the free throw line as the only score that came from the Argos was on an offensive rebound and put-back with just mere seconds remaining, wrapping up a huge 69-64 victory for the Evangels.
GAME NOTES
- Overall, Mid-America Christian shot extremely well from the field against a very stout Providence defense, finishing 24-for-49 (49 percent) from the field and were also efficient in its few attempts from the three-point arc at 37.5 percent (3-of-8). MACU was especially great in the third quarter, knocking down 12 of its 15 shot attempts (80 percent).
- Meanwhile, the Evangels managed to contain Providence to only 39.7 percent shooting (23-for-58), but the Argos were able to do some damage from the three-point arc at a 39.1 percent clip (9-of-23).
- While both teams were effective from the free throw line, MACU's aggressive approach at attacking the basket played a major difference in the contest as the Evangels finished 18-for-23 (78.3 percent) from the charity stripe while the Argos were held to only 9-of-12 (75.0 percent).
- One area of the game Providence did hold the advantage was on the glass as the Argos utilized their size to out-rebound MACU 33-25, including 13-to-5 on the offensive glass that resulted in a 14-1 difference in second chance points.
- For the fourth time in her illustrious three-year MACU career, senior guard Shy Christopher eclipsed 30-plus points, finishing just two shy of matching her career-high with 33 points on 12-of-21 shooting, including going 8-for-10 from the free throw line while dishing out a team-high five assists to go with four boards.
- The only other Evangel to crack into double-figure scoring was Kylee Scheer, netting 15 points on 6-for-11 from the field and went 2-for-2 from the foul line.
- Junior forward Harley Harbour led MACU on the glass in her Evangels debut as the Harding transfer just missed a double-double with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting to go with eight boards.
- The result was MACU's first win against an NAIA Top 25 ranked foe since picking up a 90-66 win over No. 17 Texas Wesleyan inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Feb. 4, 2023 as well as marking its first victory over a team ranked in the top 10 since defeating No. 9 Wayland Baptist 83-74 at home on Jan. 20, 2022.
UP NEXT
- Mid-America Christian will have one more dress rehearsal before hosting the Fourth Annual MACU Classic next weekend. That game will be a matchup against Kansas Christian inside the Gaulke Activity Center at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
