KANSAS CITY – The MACU women's basketball team will be competing in its fourth-straight NAIA National Championship Tournament as the Evangels will head to Wichita, Kansas on Friday Mar. 15 to take on No. 7 seed Briar Cliff (Iowa) inside the Garvey Center.
Mid-America Christian enters the tournament as an at-large bid after completing Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament play with a 22-8 overall record, finishing fourth in the highly competitive league with a 15-7 mark against conference foes.
The Evangels advanced to the SAC Tournament Semifinal round after a thrilling 72-66 comeback victory against Science & Arts in the SAC Quarterfinal inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Feb. 29. MACU battled hard against top-seeded and nationally 13th-ranked John Brown in the SAC semis in Fort Worth, Texas on Mar. 4, threatening the Golden Eagles' 26-game win streak but ultimately fell to the eventual SAC Tournament Champions, 71-63.
MACU was a team that overcame some mid-season adversity. After the Evangels suffered their fifth loss in six games to fall to 9-6, Mid-America Christian found its stride in a big way as the Evangels rattled off 11-straight wins, picking up huge home win over Wayland Baptist on Jan. 25 as well as pair of cruical road victories at Science & Arts on Feb. 3 and at Langston on Feb. 8. as well as a huge home victory over Wayland Baptist.
The Evangels make their return to the NAIA tourney after notching their seventh consecutive 20-plus win season (excluding the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 campaign).
MACU is led into postseason competition by a trio of All-SAC performers, including All-SAC First Team junior guard Shy Christopher, Second Team selection senior guard Jaci Calavan and Honorable Mention honoree junior guard Kylee Scheer.
Christopher is not only MACU's top scorer, but is the best scorer from the SAC with 579 points (19.3 ppg) while 49.3 percent from the field and 72.8 percent from the foul line to go with 5.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Over the course of her two-year career, the Jacksonville, Arkansas native more than 1000 points, notching her 1000th-point in a 97-74 win over UNT Dallas on Feb. 17.
Also in her second year at MACU, Calavan has also been one of the premiere scorers in the SAC, entering bracket play with 509 points (17.0 ppg) while knocking down the third-most threes in the league (73) on the fifth-best percentage (37.8).
Scheer has been an impact player in her first season with the Evangels. The Cheney, Kansas product is the team's third-leading scorer (338, 11.3 ppg) while ripping down a team-best 184 rebounds (6.1 rpg) as well as nabbing a team-high 49 steals (1.6 spg) while dishing out the third-most assists (73, 2.4 apg).
Tip-off against the seventh-seeded Chargers is slated for 2 p.m. on Friday, Mar. 15 and if the Evangels advance, they'd play the winner of No. 2 seed Vanguard (Calif.) and No. 15 seed Saint Mary (Kan.) at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 16.
