LANGSTON, Okla. – After putting together a strong first half, the No. 24 MACU Women's Basketball team hit a massive cold stretch in the second half and was unable to overcome a double-digit deficit as Langston handed the Evangels their first loss of the season 82-76 inside C.F. Gayles Fieldhouse on Tuesday night.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Kylee Scheer – 20 Points, 6-11 FG, 3-7 3FG, 5-6 FT, 4 Steals, 2 Assists
• Shy Christopher – 19 Points, 7-17 FG, 5-6 FT, 3 Reb
• Syncere Harrod – 12 Points, 5-10 FG, 2-3 FT, 7 Reb
• Harley Harbour – 12 Points, 5-6 FG, 2-2 FT, 6 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • After giving up a three on the first possession of the game, Mid-America Christian (9-1, 5-1 SAC) swung back with eight-unanswered as Harley Harbour finished off a three-point play to stretch the MACU lead to 8-3 with 7:36 to go.
  • Langston (8-1, 4-1 SAC) briefly cut it to a two-point game on Jordan Brown's second three-pointer of the contest, but Kylee Scheer's drive and left-handed lay-in jumpstarted another string of eight-straight for the Evangels as she also buried a pair of free throws to extend the edge to 16-6 with five minutes remaining.
  • Following a pair of Shy Christopher foul shots to make it 20-11 at the 3:22 mark, the Lady Lions strung together a 6-3 over the next three minutes as two Jada Spence free throws trimmed the lead down to 23-17 with 30 seconds left, but MACU countered with a pair of Syncere Harrod free tosses on the Evangels' final possession to give MACU the 25-17 edge at the end of one.
• Second Quarter
  • Another Harbour and-one and a Harrod lay-in within the first minute allowed the Evangels to grab their largest lead of the half at 30-17, but LU fought back scoring nine of the next 11 as two Diamond Richardson three-pointers from the left side closed it to 32-26 with 7:19 left.
  • While MACU managed to eventually build its lead back up to eight at 41-33 on a Christopher defensive board and coast-to-coast lay-in at the 3:55 mark, Langston once again clamped down defensively on the Evangels over the next three minutes as the Lady Lions scored seven-unanswered to close the gap to 41-40 on a Mikayla Woods foul shot.
  • With 33 seconds remaining, Scheer finally snapped MACU's 3:20 stretch without a field goal by burying a three from the left wing, but Langston went into the locker room with the final score as Woods got an offensive board and put-back with six seconds to go to make it a 45-42 game at the break.
• Third Quarter
  • Langston opened the second half by scoring the first four points to take a brief 46-45 lead before Mid-America Christian swung back with a 9-5 run over a four-minute stretch to reclaim a 54-51 edge on Scheer's free throws with 5:35 to go.
  • The Evangels struggled to find a rhythm on the offensive end over the final five minutes as the Lady Lions closed out the quarter with an 8-2 run as Woods bucket with 16 seconds left gave Langston the 59-56 edge at the end of three.
• Fourth Quarter
  • The run continued to carry over for Langston into the final period as the Lady Lions capped off what was ultimately an 18-2 run with 10-unanswered to start the fourth as Richardson's score gave MACU its largest deficit at 69-56.
  • A spinning Christopher lay-in at the 7:09 mark finally snapped MACU's cold spell, but Langston immediately pushed it back to a 13-point advantage on a Jordyn Connor layup to make it 71-58 with 6:44 remaining.
  • Mid-America Christian tried to claw its way back over the final five minutes as a Christopher running scoop shot in the line ignited an 11-2 Evangels run as Scheer picked the pocket of the Lady Lions point guard before getting the fastbreak layup to fall, closing the gap to 73-69 with 1:16 to go.
  • However, the Evangels were unable to get the Langston lead down any further as the Lady Lions shot 7-for-8 from the foul line in the final minute to ultimately seal an 82-76 win over MACU.

GAME NOTES

• While Mid-America Christian was able to out-shoot Langston, going 27-for-60 (45.0 percent) from the field and 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) from three compared to 25-of-61 (41.0 percent) and 7-for-25 from downtown (28.0 percent) for the Lady Lions, the free throw line proved to be the biggest factor in the contest as Langston shot an outstanding 25-for-30 (83.3 percent) while MACU knocked down 17-of-21 (81.0 percent).
• For the first time this season, the Evangels lost the battle on the glass as Langston out-rebounding MACU 40-31 with a 15-8 margin on the offensive glass, allowing the Lady Lions to outscore the Evangels 19-12 in second chance points.
• Even though Mid-America Christian was able to win the turnover battle, committing just nine giveaways compared to 12 for LU, the Evangels were unable to capitalize as Langston still held a 14-12 edge in points off turnovers.
• Kylee Scheer led a balanced MACU offensive effort with 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting while going 3-of-7 from three-point range and 5-for-6 from the stripe to go with four steals and a pair of assists.
• Shy Christopher had a big game on the offensive end as well, finishing with 19 points on 7-for-17 from the field and 5-of-6 from the stripe to go with here boards.
• MACU got some strong production from its two forwards as Harley Harbour finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from the stripe with six boards. However, Harbour was plagued with foul trouble as she was only able to play 20 minutes before fouling out of the contest early in the fourth quarter.
• Harrod provided a spark of the MACU bench with 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting and 2-of-3 from the stripe to go with a team-high seven rebounds.
• The loss dropped the Evangels down from the top spot in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings, sitting just a half-game ahead of Langston for the No. 2 spot in the league standings.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will have an extended break before its next contest as the Evangels return to action on Thursday, Dec. 12 for their final home contest during the 2024 portion of their season. The Evangels will host crosstown rival Southwestern Christian for a 6 p.m. tip-off inside the Gaulke Activity Center.