OKLAHOMA CITY – MACU Women's Basketball put together a dominant wire-to-wire 86-57 victory over Central Christian on Thursday evening behind a pair of double-double efforts from Mia Smith and Taliah Lee.
 
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 86, Central Christian 57
  • Mid-America Christian: (9-1, 4-0 SAC)
  • Central Christian: (4-6, 0-4 SAC)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Caitlynn Jordan: 19 Points, 6-11 FG, 3-7 3FG, 4-4 FT, 5 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl
• Taliah Lee: 18 Points, 6-13 FG, 2-5 3FG, 4-4 FT, 11 Reb, 4 Ast, 2 Blk, 1 Stl
• Mia Smith: 11 Points, 7-8 FT, 10 Ast, 3 Reb, 3 Stl
• Monique Carter: 11 Points, 4-6 FG, 3-4 3FG, 4 Ast, 2 Reb, 1 Stl
• Sincere Roberts: 11 Points, 5-11 FG, 6 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 Stl

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Both teams started red hot shooting as just three minutes in, the Evangels led 10-8. Taliah Lee opened the scoring with a three, while Monique Carter added one from the corner a few possessions later for a perfect start.
  • The Evangels went on a quick seven-point spurt to open a nine-point advantage as Caitlynn Jordan joined the scoring action with a transition three, and Carter hit again from the opposite corner for a 17-9 advantage.
  • The Tigers continued to keep it close with lights out shooting of their own. A triple from Charmayne Marshall cut the deficit to just four at 20-16 with three minutes left. But two more triples from Jordan, plus Carter hitting from the corner again extended the MACU lead to eight at 31-23, as the Evangels cashed in seven of 10 three-pointers in the opening quarter.
• Second Quarter
  • The Evangels tightened up the defensive side while continuing to produce offensively through a couple of aggressive drives to the rack from Mia Smith. At the media timeout halfway through the quarter, the MACU advantage grew to 16 with Taliah Lee finishing in the paint.
  • The Tigers continued to knock down shots but had no answer to the aggressive nature of the Evangel offense. Talayah Thomas got to the basket on consecutive possessions, followed by Sincere Roberts finishing at the rim to beat the halftime buzzer and give the Evangels a 53-32 lead into the break.
• Third Quarter
  • Scoring was harder to come by for both teams in the second half. Lee found the bottom on a transition triple right after getting a pair in the paint. The Tigers cut the lead to 16 with continued three-point shooting, but once again the Evangels responded with another Lee deuce to lead 61-42 with three minutes to play.
  • The Evangels closed the quarter on a quick 6-0 run. A pair of free throws cashed in by both Jordan and Smith, added by more paint points for Jordan, gave MACU a 68-44 lead with 10 minutes to play.
• Fourth Quarter
  • Central lit up the start of the fourth with consecutive triples from Marshall on its opening possessions. But MACU continued to have the answer as this time it was Roberts driving inside for consecutive finishes at the rim.
  • Aniya Smith and Allie Harris added two more threes to close out the fourth quarter, closing out a dominant night inside the Gaulke by a final score of 86-57.

GAME NOTES

• MACU finished 30-71 (42.3%) from the field, cooled off significantly from three after starting 7-10 in the first quarter, finished at 10-30 (33.3%) for the game, and 16-20 (80%) from the free throw line. The Tigers had an efficient night from three-point land at 12-28 (42.9%), 20-52 (38.5%) from the field, but just 62.5% at 5-8 from the free throw line.
• The Evangels conceded a season low in turnovers at just six, while forcing 19 total turnovers from the Tigers, off 12 team steals.
• All five MACU starters finished in double digit scoring, leading off with Caitlynn Jordan who had 19 points including three triples. Taliah Lee followed behind with 18 points coming from two threes and six total field goals. While Mia Smith, Monique Carter, and Sincere Roberts finished with 11 points each all from different ways. Smith struggled from the field finishing 2-10 but shot an excellent 7-8 from the free throw line. Carter splashed home three of her four threes, and Roberts finished with five field goals all inside the paint.
• Lee led MACU in rebounding with 11 rebounds, recording her first career collegiate double-double. Aniya Smith snagged seven boards to go along with her seven points off the bench.
• Mia Smith had a historic night by dishing out 10 assists, her highest assist tally since her freshman season coming in her first collegiate game on Nov. 3, 2023, against Dallas Christian. This moves Smith into seventh place all-time in program history with 199 total assists. Carter and Lee gave out four assists each.  
• Mid-America Christian won its ninth consecutive game holding the longest active streak in the Sooner Athletic Conference. This win moves the Evangels to 4-0 in conference play, claiming the sole spot of top of the conference table.  
• MACU improves to 25-2 all-time against Central Christian, improving the winning streak to 23 consecutive wins over the Tigers.  

UP NEXT
Mid-America Christian hits the road headed East to face John Brown on December 11, tipping off at 6 p.m. in Siloam Springs, Ark. The Evangels will stay East to clash with College of the Ozarks two days later, on Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. tipoff in Point Lookout