OLATHE, Kan. – No. 24 MACU Women's basketball team fought hard for victory in the first round of the NAIA playoffs with a 73-63 win over Northwestern behind a strong second half, including a strong fourth quarter that included a quarter-high of 57.1 percent shooting on 8-for-14 from the floor by the Evangels.
TOP PERFORMERS

• Shy Christopher – 30 points, 12-22 FG, 5-5 FT, 6 reb, 2 stl
• Syncere Harrod – 13 points, 8 reb, 2 blk, 2 stl
• Kylee Scheer – 10 points, 13 reb

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian jumped to a 7-2 start through the first 2:31 after Shy Christopher received a handoff from Kylee Scheer deep behind the top of the arc and ripped a three-ball providing the Evangels with the early advantage.
  • Northwestern responded with a 7-2 surge of its own, tying it up at 9-9 on a Hali Anderson and-one off the lay with 5:17 remaining.
  • The Evangels closed out the quarter by scoring eight of the final 12 points, with Mary Nyakundi weaving through the paint dropping a layup in with 17 seconds left, giving MACU a 17-13 lead.
• Second Quarter
  • The teams went back-and-forth through the first five minutes, Christopher brought the lead up to 21-18 on a transition lay-in in which she snaked through three Red Raider defenders for the acrobatic bucket. However, Northwestern put up five unanswered, taking the lead on a pair of free throws by Ashtyn Wobig.
  • Kylee Scheer knotted it back up at 23-23 on her trip to the charity stripe, but the Red Raiders ignited a 9-3 run bringing their lead up to 32-26 on a Allison Piercy bucket with 1:45 to go.
  • Talayah Thomas checked back into the game and provided a spark on offense, using swift footwork inside the paint while mixing a couple of pump fakes in the process to get the lay, breaking a slight two-minute scoreless drought for MACU.
  • The Evangels held the Red Raiders scoreless over the last 1:45 on 0-for-3 from the floor, the half was closed out on a three from Scheer after Syncere Harrod received her own miss off a blocked shot, Harrod then snagged the ball and slang it to Scheer in the corner just before falling out of bounds, allowing Scheer to drain the trey and cut the Northwestern lead to 32-31 entering the break.
• Third Quarter
  • Christopher reentered the game after sitting out the final seven minutes due to two early fouls committed in the second, nonetheless she made an instant impact providing the Evangels with a 33-32 lead on the lay 30 seconds into the half.
  • The teams went bucket-for-bucket for the next six minutes, with both teams scoring no more than four unanswered during the stretch. The Red Raiders recaptured the lead on a triple from Anderson, up 46-44 with 3:51 remaining.
  • The Evangels held the Red Raiders scoreless from the field over the final 3:51, allowing just two points on a pair of free throws to Jenna Kluxdal.
  • MACU finished the quarter scoring eight of the last 11, scoring four from the line from Mia Smith and Mary Nyakundi, and a pair of layups by Christopher, giving the Evangels a 52-48 edge heading into the final frame.
• Fourth Quarter
  • A couple of layups by Alexis Borgstadt and Sydney Savage led off the fourth, providing at the time the largest lead of the day on both sides, with MACU leading 56-48 with 8:22 to play.
  • Christopher remained hot from the floor, knocking in a couple more buckets to cap off an 8-2 run giving MACU the first double-digit lead of the contest up 60-50 with 6:24 left.
  • MACU kept the foot on the gas, as Harrod fought through the contact, and finishing the and-one play putting the Evangels up 66-55 with under five minutes on the clock.
  • The teams both scored eight over the final 4:48, but the Evangels pulled away with victory on the dagger on Christopher's 30^th point of the night on a layup, wrapping things up with a 73-63 Evangels victory.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian narrowly outshot Northwestern, going 27-for-72 (37.5 percent) compared to the Red Raiders 24-of-64 (36.9 percent). MACU dominated on the glass, putting up a plus-14 in boards at a 52-38 clip.
• Offense rebounds were also in the Evangels favor at a 16-7 advantage, second chance points played a big role in the win for MACU, with a 14-2 advantage in that department.
• MACU kicked it into another gear in the second half, outscoring Northwestern 42-31 after being outscored 32-31 in the first.
• Crunch time proved to be the best time for Mid-America Christian, they shot a game-high 57.1 percent in the fourth quarter while holding Northwestern to a quarter low 27.8 percent.
• The Evangels took great care of the ball, committing only eight turnovers on the night, finishing one high of their season low of seven they committed in the 87-57 win over Panhandle on Feb. 27.
• Shy Christopher is nowhere near afraid of the big moment, she has now scored at least 24 points in all three NAIA tournament games she has appeared in, with now a career-high of 30 surpassing her 25-point performance against Briar Cliff last season.
• Kylee Scheer led the contest in rebounds with 13, she picked up her fifth double-double of the season with ten points on the night.
• Syncere Harrod was the only other Evangel to crack double figures in scoring, she scored 13 points, just missing a double-double with eight boards, as well as adding on a couple blocks and steals.
• Alexis Borgstadt, Mia Smith and Sydney Savage led the second unit, putting up all 14 of MACU's bench points outscoring the Red Raiders 14-6 in that regard.
• Savage also set her season-high in boards with eight, she also picked up a multi-block game for the third time this season as she had two tonight.
• The Evangels also did a solid job with rejections, picking up five on the night, making it the sixth time this season they have recorded at least five blocks.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian advances to round two of the NAIA Tournament, playing resuming play in Olathe, Kansas with a 7:00 p.m. matchup against Kansas Wesleyan.