OKLAHOMA CITY – No. 18 MACU Women's basketball team cruised to an 81-43 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center Thursday afternoon behind a strong offensive showing and tough defensive pressure forcing 22 OPSU turnovers while shooting 48.5 percent in the process to extend its win streak to five.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Shy Christopher – 16 Points, 6-11 FG, 5 Reb, 2 Ast
• Kylee Scheer – 16 Points, 7-12 FG, 9 Reb, 5 Stl, 3 Ast
• Hailey Tunnell – 14 Points, 5-11 FG, 3 Reb
• Talayah Thomas – 8 Points, 6 Reb, 6 Ast, 4 Stl

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian (14-1, 10-1 SAC) opened up scoring on a fastbreak layup after Talayah Thomas came away with a takeaway and relayed it up to Shy Christopher for the easy lay in.
  • The next four possessions resulted in scores for Oklahoma Panhandle State (1-15, 1-12 SAC) which provided a slight edge, however following a three from Talayah Thomas, Christopher's take to the basket with some contact allowed her to tie it up at 7-7 with 5:58 to play.
  • Both teams struggled to get things going on the offensive end with a four-minute scoring hiatus that was snapped on a triple in the corner by Kylee Scheer. The Evangels tacked on another three this time from Hailey Tunnell with :26 seconds remaining to take a 15-7 advantage into the second.
• Second Quarter
  • Tunnel picked up right where she left off drilling a corner three on the dime from Scheer :48 seconds in to extend the run to 13 that lasted a prolonged 7 minutes and 4 seconds boosting MACU's lead to 18-7.
  • It did not take long for another Evangel surge with Scheer coming away with three steals on three straight Aggie possessions sparking 10 unanswered to make it 28-9 with 6:09 to go.
  • Mary Nyakundi ignited the last run of the half sparking a 16-3 streak on four consecutive free throws with Tunnell pouring it on by knocking down a pair of three-pointers and Aniya Smith finishing off the run on a layup sending the Evangels into the halftime break up 44-17.
• Third Quarter
  • Harley Harbour led the charge kicking off the second half by scoring six points all inside the paint in an 11-2 rally making it 55-19 MACU with 5:23 remaining.
  • The last five minutes of the quarter consisted of both teams putting up 9 points apiece allowing the Evangels to take a 64-28 advantage into the final quarter.
• Fourth Quarter
  • Both teams traded buckets for the entirety of the quarter as a larger lead allowed the Evangels to provide some rest for their starters while letting the reserves check in for some action.
  • MACU narrowly outscored OPSU 17-15 closing out scoring on the eleventh Evangel to score in the contest with Liberty Hill knocking down a free throw to wrap things up with an 81-43 victory.

 
GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian came out the gates rather slow with just seven points scored through the midway point in the first quarter, however they dominated the rest of the way behind a massive second quarter where the offense exploded for 29 points.
• Overall MACU shot 48.5 percent on 32-of-66 shooting from the field, they held Oklahoma Panhandle State to just 30.6 percent on 15-of-49 from the floor with 22 turnovers.
• The Evangel defense picked up sixteen steals in the contest falling one shy of their season high of 17 that occurred in the 108-38 victory against Kansas Christian College on Nov. 6, 2024.
• Kylee Scheer and Shy Christopher both put up 16 points leading the game, Scheer added on a season high of nine boards along with tying her season high of five steals.
• Talayah Thomas had a very impressive effort with eight points, six rebounds, four steals, and a game high six assists. Both six assists and four steals marked a season high in a game for Thomas.
• Hailey Tunnell also struck for a career high with 14 points all coming in the first half, four threes also was a season high for Tunnell.
• For the second time this season the Evangels saw eleven players reach the scoring column with the other instance in the 108-38 win over Kansas Christian.
• With the victory the Evangels move their win streak to 12 games over the Aggies along with the fourth straight double-digit victory over OPSU.

UP NEXT

• The Evangels will battle for the top of the conference with a home matchup inside the Gaulke Activity Center against #12 Wayland Baptist this Saturday with a tip-off set for 2 p.m.