OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 18 MACU Women's basketball team was back-and-forth all game long against Langston, however a 12-2 run midway through the fourth quarter was too much to overcome for the Evangels allowing the Lady Lions to walk away with a 62-55 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center Monday night.  

TOP PERFORMERS

• Shy Christopher – 17 Points, 6-12 FG, 5-6 FT, 5 Reb
• Kylee Scheer – 12 Points, 5-12 FG, 6 Reb
• Syncere Harrod – 10 Points, 4-9 FG, 6 Reb, 4 blk

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Shy Christopher started the night off with the opening bucket followed by Mary Nyakundi's lay-in off Kylee Scheer's assist to give Mid-America Christian (16-3, 12-3 SAC) an early 4-0 advantage. After starting 0-for-4 from the floor, Langston (17-1, 13-1 SAC) proceeded to go 3-of-4 taking its first lead of the contest on Mikayla Woods' lay-up off Diamond Richardson's feed making it 6-4 Lady Lions with 6:36 to go.
  • Kylee Scheer connected on back-to-back opportunities to bring MACU back up, however Langston scored on the following two possessions to knot it right back up at 10-10 with 2:15 remaining.
  • Outside scoring was not a factor early on, as the first 20 points combined by both teams were all inside the paint, Tatona Woods-Blackow finally snapped the streak 8:05 into the game providing a 13-10 LU lead on a triple.
  • With just over thirty seconds remaining, a defensive rebound by Sydney Savage allowed her to hand it off to Christopher who went coast-to-coast on the floater, tying it up at 13 a piece entering the second.
• Second Quarter
  • Langston jumped out to an 11-2 run over the first three minutes to boost its lead to 24-15. Mid-America Christian turned to Hailey Tunnell to hush the run as she connected on a long two followed by a lay-in to bring it back to a two-possession game with Langston leading 24-19 with 5:09 left.
  • Jordan Brown ignited a 7-0 Lady Lions surge that was capped off on back-to-back scores by Woods providing a double-digit advantage up 31-19 with 2:38 to play.
  • A pair of free throws by Talayah Thomas got MACU back in the scoring column, as they concluded the half scoring six of the last eight with Thomas drilling a mid-ranged jumper with two seconds left to cut Langston's lead to 33-25 entering the halftime break.
• Third Quarter
  • After a mid-ranged jumper by Woods, the Evangels connected for six unanswered that lasted 3:44, senior center Syncere Harrod played a great part as she picked up two rejections, two boards, and a bucket in the process allowing MACU to limit Langston's lead to 35-31 with 6:02 remaining.
  • The Lady Lions were able to get back on the board behind a jumper by Conner, however a set of free throws by Scheer and a lay-in from the right side by Christopher made it a 10-2 run bringing MACU right back in it down 37-35 with 3:21 left.
  • Both teams proceeded to go bucket-for-bucket the rest of the quarter with a slight advantage going Langston's way with a 9-8 edge, letting the Lady Lions take a 46-43 lead into the last frame.
• Fourth Quarter
  • The Evangels scored four of the first six points with Harrod picking up her tenth point of the night on Sydney Savage's dime to make it a one-point game with the Lady Lions leading 48-47 with 9:16 left to play.
  • The next seven minutes were all Langston's way as they went on a 12-2 run to extend the advantage back up to double-digits at 60-49.
  • MACU limited LU to just one score over the final 2:55 picking up six of the next eight points, however it was too late as a layup by Christopher with five seconds remaining concluded the night with the Lady Lions wrapping up a 62-55 victory.

 
GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian ended up with a better shooting percentage on the day going 21-for-49 (42.9 percent), however Langston dominated on the offensive glass allowing them to take 71 shots. LU finished 28-of-71 overall (39.4 percent) while having the upper-hand in rebounds 42-35, second chance points 15-4, and points in the paint 48-30.
• Both teams struggled from behind the arc with the Lady Lions finishing 2-of-14 and the Evangels posting a season low of just 1-for-12. MACU nearly went the whole contest without a three, as Hailey Tunnell banged the lone three with 1:33 remaining in the fourth.
• The Evangels were threatening to take a lead down 48-47 with 9:16 left to play, but the Lady Lions defense for the second time this season silenced the Evangels as the first contest also featured an 18-2 LU run late in the fourth.
• Shy Christopher led the charge for MACU as she finished with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting with five boards. Kylee Scheer tacked on 12 points on 5-of-12 from the floor with six boards.
• Syncere Harrod played a season high of 32 minutes due to the injury to Harley Harbour, Harbour sustained an injury a minute and a half into the contest and never returned. Nonetheless, it was a great job by Harrod as she put up a season high of four blocks helping MACU put up a total of eight rejections, the most in a game since Jan. 16, 2016, in the 71-67 win over St. Gregory's.
• Hailey Tunnell continued to contribute coming off the bench as she added on seven points on 3-for-3 shooting in just six minutes played.
• Although it was a tough loss for MACU, one positive aspect was containing LU's leading scorer Diamond Richardson, after a 30-point performance in the last matchup the Evangels defense limited Richardson to two points on a measly 1-of-10 from the floor.
• In the loss the Evangels fall victim to a regular season series sweep by Langston and have now lost four of the last five dating back to the 2022-2023 season.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian returns to action this Thursday Jan. 23, inside the Gaulke Activity Center against crosstown rivals Southwestern Christian with a tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m.