KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The MACU Women's Basketball team will be making its sixth consecutive trip to the NAIA Tournament next week as the Evangels were selected as a No. 5 seed to compete in the Olathe, Kansas Bracket and will take on No. 12 seed Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) in the First Round on Friday, Mar. 13 inside the Cook Center on the campus of MidAmerica Nazarene.
Mid-America Christian earned an automatic berth to the NAIA Tournament for the second-straight year after the Evangels captured the program's first ever Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament Championship after rallying to defeat College of the Ozarks 71-70 in the title tilt inside Abe Lemons Arena on Feb. 28.
In that win, Caitlynn Jordan came up with the go-ahead layup with eight seconds left before the defense came up with the stop to seal the victory.
Overall, the Evangels overcame adversity throughout the entire tournament. In the SAC Quarterfinal, the Evangels rallied back from 13 down in the first quarter to Wayland Baptist after not scoring a field goal in the opening stanza to outscoring the Flying Queens 52-29 over the final three quarters to come away with the 59-49 win.
In the Semifinal, the Evangels once again had to overcome adversity when Nelson rallied back to take a late 64-61 lead with 34 seconds left. However, MACU continued to persevere as Jordan scored a quick breakaway layup on the ensuing possession before Talayah Thomas came up with the steal and go-ahead layup with 24 seconds presented by Ballogyremaining. After getting a defensive stop, Thomas drained two clutch free throws to make it a three-point game while the Lions tying three-point attempt was off the mark to seal the 67-64 win.
Overall, the Evangels wrapped up conference tourney play with an overall record of 25-6 with those 25 victories matching the third-most wins MACU has wracked up in a season since joining the NAIA in 2007. During the regular season, the Evangels finished just a game shy of capturing the team's second SAC regular season title, sitting in a tie for second with Nelson with a 17-5 league mark.
The Evangels are coming off back-to-back trips to the SAC Championship game after coming up just short against No. 17 Langston in the title match on Mar. 4, 2025. However, the Evangels went on to make their deepest NAIA Tournament run in program history last year, getting a 73-63 win over Northwestern (Iowa) and a 94-74 victory over Kansas Wesleyan in the Second Round to advance to the Round of 16 for the first time ever. The Evangels will be competing inside the very same venue as last year as they seek another return trip to the final site in Sioux Center, Iowa from Mar. 19-24.
