WAXAHACHIE, Texas – With massive Sooner Athletic Conference seeding implications on the line, the MACU women's basketball team picked up a crucial road victory inside the Sheaffer Center on Thursday night as the Evangels pulled out the 78-65 victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God for their ninth-straight win.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Shy Christopher – 25 Points, 8-14 FG, 8-13 FT, 6 Reb, 3 Assists
• Jaci Calavan – 20 Points, 7-17 FG, 5-11 3FG, 4 Reb
• Kylee Scheer – 11 Points, 4-7 FG, 3-5 3FG, 9 Reb, 4 Assists
• Mia Smith – 10 Points, 3-7 FG, 3-5 FT, 4 Reb, 3 Assists

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian (18-6, 12-6 SAC) started off the contest strong as Shy Chrisopher scored MACU's first seven points as her three from the top of the key brought it to a 7-0 lead with 8:21 to go.
  • Southwestern Assemblies of God (14-9, 11-7 SAC) scored the next five as an Autumn Moore layup closed it to a two-point game before Kylee Scheer knocked down a three from the left corner on Christopher's drive-and-dish to push it back out to 10-5 at the 6:21 mark.
  • Back-to-back Rylee Lavender three-pointers gave SAGU its first lead, but then Jaci Calavan drilled three wide open three-pointers on three-straight possessions, igniting a 15-unanswered MACU run that was finished off on Christopher's incredible midrange spin floater to set the score to 25-11 with 2:07 remaining.
  • The Lions scored the next five to knock MACU's edge down to single-digits, but Sydney Savage took advantage of her defender falling down for an open right-handed lay-in with 32 seconds left to give the Evangels the 27-16 advantage after one.
• Second Quarter
  • SAGU caught fire from beyond the arc through the first five minutes of the second quarter, stringing together an incredible 16-3 run to retake 32-30 lead on Neeley Tilley-Bedick's layup with 5:07 left.
  • The Evangels managed to take the lead back on a strong dish from Christopher to Ashley Hopper as her right-hand layup made it a 35-34 game with 3:24 to go before the Lions tied it back up at 36-36 on an Agar Garcia layup with just under three minutes remaining.
  • MACU's defense played well over the final two minutes, keeping SAGU off the board as as Calavan's midrange pull-up jumper from the left side off the inbound pass sparked a 5-0 Evangels surge to close out the half with the 41-36 advantage.
• Third Quarter
  • Despite Calavan knocking down a long three from the left wing on MACU's first possession, Southwestern Assemblies responded with an 8-2 surge, closing the gap to 46-44 on a Wendy Clemmons three with 6:56 to go.
  • Mia Smith utilized a well-executed hand-off screen at the top of the key, burying a long three to stop the run before the Lions answered with a Lavender long ball to close it back to 50-47 with 5:05 left.
  • At the 4:37 mark, Scheer buried a long three-pointer from the right wing before Calavan added one more from the left wing to stretch the MACU lead to 56-47 with just over four minutes remaining.
  • Mid-America Christian maintained its two-to-three-possession lead for the remainder of the quarter Lavender and Scheer traded a pair of threes with Scheer's coming from deep right before the buzzer, setting the score to 63-54.
• Fourth Quarter
  • The Evangels were slightly cold to start the final period, but Calavan scored the bucket and drew the foul with 7:10 remaining, finishing off the three-point play to start an eight-unanswered run capped off on a pair of Savage foul shots with 5:22 left to make it a 71-56 game.
  • The Lions scored the next four to close the gap, but MACU countered with six-straight as Christopher's right elbow floater at the 1:40 mark gave the Evangels their largest lead of the game at 77-60.
  • SAGU scored five of the final six, but the gap was too large to make up as MACU walked away with the 78-65 victory.

GAME NOTES

• As a team, Mid-America Christian finished the contest by shooting 25-for-57 (43.9 percent) from the field, 10-of-25 (40 percent) from three-point range while converting 18-for-27 (66.7 percent) from the foul line.
• Defensively, MACU held Southwestern Assemblies of God to 25-of-71 (35.2 percent) shooting, going 12-for-36 (33.3 percent) from three-point range, but attempted just 3-for-4 (75 percent) from the charity stripe.
• The Evangels dominated the rebounding battle by a 44-25 margin with a 12-9 edge on the offensive glass. However, the Lions won the turnover battle by forcing 16 MACU turnovers while committing 10 of their own.
• Shy Christopher led four Evangels into double-figures with 25 points, shooting 8-of-14 from the field and 8-for-13 from the foul line to go with six boards and three assists.
• Jaci Calavan also broke into 20-plus point scoring with her 20 points coming on 7-for-17, including 5-of-11 from three with four boards.
• Kylee Scheer chipped in 11 points on an efficient 4-of-7 shooting while going 3-for-5 from three to go with nine boards and four assists while Mia Smith rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points on 3-of-7 from the field and 3-for-5 from the foul line.
• Sydney Savage led MACU on the glass with 10 rebounds while also recording a pair of blocks and two steals on the defensive end.
• With the win, MACU split the season series with SAGU after the Lions came into the Gaulke Activity Center and defeated the Evangels 86-73 back on Jan. 18.
• The victory also allowed the Evangels to grab the No. 4 spot in the SAC standings outright after Science & Arts suffered a 69-66 home loss to No. 13 John Brown.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be back at home on Saturday as the Evangels will host their Senior Day game against UNT Dallas. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center before holding the Senior Day Ceremony immediately following the conclusion of the contest.