OKLAHOMA CITY – MACU Women's Basketball dominate the second half by outscoring Cottey 50-15 to take the 84-36 win on Friday night, Day 1 of the MACU Classic inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
 
SCORE

• (RV) Mid-America Christian 84, Cottey College 36
  • Mid-America Christian: (2-1)
  • Cottey College (0-5)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Talayah Thomas: 16 Points, 4 Reb, 4 Steals, 1 Assist
• Sincere Roberts: 14 Points, 3 Reb, 2 Steals, 2 Assists
• Taliah Lee: 13 Points, 5 Reb, 5 Assists, 3 Steals, 2 Blocks
• Mia Smith: 12 Points, 5 Steals, 4 Reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Caitlynn Jordan sparked the early offense for MACU knocking down a three-pointer on the opening offensive possession. The Evangels continued to light it up from deep as Talayah Thomas made consecutive shots from behind the arc as MACU had its dream start with an 11-0 lead four and half minutes in.
  • The Comets got on the board halfway through the opening quarter by cashing in a triple. However, this couldn't slow down the Evangel offense as MACU went on a second scoring run to lead 17-3 with 2:30 remaining. Jordan showed good post moves getting a layup to fall, followed by knocking down a mid-range jumper.  
  • Cottey rallied towards the end of the quarter, but Allie Harris made a jumper to give the Evangels a 21-9 advantage.
• Second Quarter
  • The Comets came out firing by making a few jump shots and cutting the MACU lead to just six at 21-15 two minutes into the quarter. Gabrielle Burrus knocked down a three-pointer to give her seven early points during the Comets' run.
  • Mia Smith scored her first points of the night to stop the Comets' run and ignite the Evangel offense in the second quarter as the lead was quickly back to double digits. Sincere Roberts added a triple of her own to give MACU a 31-17 lead with two minutes remaining in the half.
  • Smith splashed in a second three-pointer on the last offensive possession of the half to give the Evangels a 34-21 advantage into the halftime break.
• Third Quarter
  •  Mid-America Christian opened the second half on a 12-0 run in the first five minutes as shots started to fall. Taliah Lee started the scoring by cashing in three points, Smith's jumper stayed hot, and Thomas continued to impress from range to total b13 points.
  • However, it was the MACU defense that turned up the heat in the third quarter allowing just six total points. Roberts splashed in consecutive triples to close out the third quarter and extend the Evangel lead to 59-27 with 10 minutes remaining.
• Fourth Quarter
  • Coach Morris went to his bench for the fourth quarter and they delivered as freshman Berlin Bartlett cashed in the first triple of the quarter and continued the red hot Evangel shooting.
  • Roberts knocked down her fourth triple halfway through the fourth quarter to give her 14 points as the Evangels lead was 69-31. Once again, it was the MACU defense that told the story, allowing nine total points in the fourth quarter to turn defense into easy offense on the other end.
  • Lee canned another one from deep, as the Evangels ran away in the second half with the 84-36 win.

GAME NOTES

• MACU was efficient from the field finishing 33-70 (47.1%), while pouring in 15 of 28 from behind the arc (53.6%). The Comets struggled offensively finishing 12-41 (29.3%) from the field, and 3-9 (33.3%) from behind the arc. However, they did shoot significantly more free throws than the evangels but could only cash in nine of their 17 attempts.
• The Evangels held a narrow rebounding advantage at 38-35, but a much larger margin in offensive rebounds with 12 to Cottey's six.  
• Turnovers told the story of the game as the Comets finished with 30 turnovers where MACU scored 40 points from it. The Evangels took care of the ball much better with only 10 turnovers.
• Four Evangels reached double-digit scoring as Talayah Thomas led the way with 16 points, Sincere Roberts added 14, Taliah Lee contributed 13, and Mia Smith chipped in 12. All four of them also knocked down two or more three-pointers.  
• Lee led MACU with five rebounds, as four Evangels tied behind her with four. Lee also finished with a team-high five assists and two blocks to go along with three steals. Smith finished with five steals to lead the Evangels.
• The Evangels allowed only 15 points in the second half, and 36 for the game making it the sixth lowest points against in program history since joining the NAIA.
• MACU improves to 3-0 all time against Cottey with this win. The 48-point win ties the largest margin of victory all time against the Comets.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian stay at home for game two of the MACU Classic as the Evangels face Mission (Mo.) on Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. kickoff inside the Gaulke Activity Center.