SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – In the final regular season game with the two teams with the longest win-streaks going head-to-head, the MACU women's basketball team got off to a strong start but struggled to slow down No. 13 John Brown in its Senior Day game in the second half as the Evangels fell 76-70 inside Bill George Arena on Saturday.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Jaci Calavan – 22 Points, 7-16 FG, 6-12 3FG, 2-2 FT
• Shy Christopher – 17 Points, 7-12 FG, 2-2 FT, 5 Reb
• Alexis Borgstadt – 12 Points, 5-7 FG, 2-2 3FG

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian (21-7, 15-7 SAC) started off quickly as Shy Christopher opened the game by splitting the defenders for a layup before burying a three from the top of the key on Scheer's hand-off screen to make it 5-0 less than a minute in.
  • John Brown (25-3, 22-0 SAC) clamped down defensively on the Evangels, holding MACU scoreless over a four-minute stretch while stringing together six-unanswered to take its first lead of the game at 6-5 with 5:13 to go.
  • The two powerhouse squads battled back-and-forth over the final five minutes, seeing five lead changes and three ties before the Evangels closed out by scoring the final four points on a pair of Kylee Scheer throws and Christopher's fastbreak lay-in off Sydney Savage's steal and outlet to make it a 19-17 MACU lead after one.
• Second Quarter
  • The Golden Eagles immediately tied it up on their first possession of the second period, the Evangels rattled off an 8-0 run on a Christopher bucket and a Jaci Calavan three before Savage got the hoop-and-the harm with 7:57 remaining to set the score to 27-19.
  • JBU once again closed it back to a three-point game over the next three minutes as Graci Harris lobbed it in to Tarrah Stephens for the layup, bringing it to 29-26 with 4:29 remaining.
  • On the ensuing possession, Calavan buried a three from the right wing off Mia Smith's left side drive and dish, igniting a seven-unanswered streak that was finished off on Alexis Borgstadt's spin move on the left block to give MACU its largest lead of the half at 36-26 with 2:10 left.
  • After Briley Burns and Kylee Scheer traded threes on the next two possessions, JBU closed out the half by scoring four of the final six to bring it to 41-33 at the halftime break.
• Third Quarter
  • The Evangels quickly started the second half by scoring seven of the first nine points as Calavan slipped through a screen and fired off a quick catch-and-shoot three from the top of the key, giving MACU its largest lead of the game at 48-35 with 8:32 to go.
  • On the next possession, JBU's Natalie Smith caught fire by burying a left-corner three to start a 12-unanswered scoring run that saw Smith score the first seven before a Stephens layup and an Abbey Sanders left wing three with just under four minutes left closed it to a 48-47 game.
  • A Savage free throw at the 3:38 mark snapped MACU's five-minute scoring spell before Borgstadt got open on the left wing for an open triple to push the lead back out to 52-47 with 2:49 remaining.
  • The Golden Eagles closed out the quarter with a 6-2 surge on threes from Harris and Smith trim MACU's edge down to 54-53 at the end of three.
• Fourth Quarter
  • On the first possession of the final period, Smith finished off a four-point play after knocking down a right-wing triple and drawing the foul before hitting a step-back three with 8:11 to go, giving JBU its largest lead to that point at 60-54.
  • Savage managed to cut the Golden Eagles lead in-half with 7:41 to go by finishing off a three-point play on the hoop-and-harm, but John Brown continued to pull away over the next four minutes, stretching their advantage to eight at 68-60 on a Sanders three-ball with 3:15 on the clock.
  • Calavan managed to knock it back down to a two-possession game by nailing her sixth three-pointer of the contest, but JBU claimed its largest lead by scoring seven of the next nine with Smith scoring her 35^th point on her eighth-three-pointer with 1:13 to go.
  • The Evangels did get another three from Borgstadt and a bucket from Scheer on the final possession, but the deficit was too large for MACU to overcome as the Golden Eagles secured the 77-70 win.

GAME NOTES

• Despite coming up short, Mid-America Christian performed well on the offensive end, finishing the contest by shooting 25-for-59 (42.4 percent), including going 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) from three-point range while shooting 9-for-11 (81.8 percent) from the foul line.
• However, the Evangels struggled to find an answer for the senior tandem of Natalie Smith and Tarrah Stephens in their Senior Day game as the John Brown duo combined to score 52 of the team's 77 points. Overall, the Golden Eagles shot 28-for-58 (48.3 percent), including going 14-of-31 (45.2 percent) from three and 7-for-9 (77.8 percent) from the free throw line.
• While MACU was able to grab a 35-30 advantage in the rebounding battle for a 15-10 edge in second chance points, the Golden Eagles were able to force the Evangels into 13 turnovers while committing just 10 of their own, creating a 16-6 lead in points off takeaways.
• Jaci Calavan led MACU's offensive efforts with 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including going a blistering 6-for-12 from the three-point arc.
• Shy Christopher had an efficient day from the field, scoring her 17 points on 7-of-12 from the floor to go with five rebounds.
• Alexis Borgstadt was the only other Evangel to break into double-digits with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-for-2 from three-point range in just 14 minutes of action.
• Mia Smith put together an excellent floor game for MACU as she finished tied for the team-lead with eight rebounds and dished out a team-high seven assists while committing only one turnover.
• Sydney Savage also turned in a solid game with seven points and tying Smith with a team-high eight boards to go with three assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
• The loss for the Evangels marked their first in five weeks with MACU's last defeat coming all the way back on Jan. 18 in an 86-73 home defeat to Southwestern Assemblies of God.
• With the result, MACU will enter the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will be home for one more game as the Evangels will host No. 5 seed Science & Arts (Okla.) in the SAC Quarterfinal round on Thursday. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. inside the Gaulke Activity Center.