Kelsie Dutton is entering her fifth season as the Associate Head Coach of the Mid-America Christian women's basketball program in 2024-25 and her ninth season overall after serving as an assistant coach for the previous four seasons.
During the 2023-24 campaign, the MACU women's basketball program continued to be one of the premiere programs in the Sooner Athletic Conference, wrapping up the season with a 22-9 overall record while going 15-7 in SAC play to finish fourth in the league standings.
The Evangels managed to overcome some mid-season adversity during the 2024 portion of the schedule. After a stretch where MACU lost five of its first six to start the year, the Evangels bounced back in a big way by rattling off 11 wins in a row before seeing its streak end in a 77-70 road loss to undefeated SAC Champion No. 13 John Brown in its final game of the regular season. MACU won a downright thriller in the SAC Quarterfinal against Science & Arts on Feb. 29 as the Evangels pulled out a 72-66 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Feb. 29. As a result of its strong season, MACU qualified for its fourth consecutive trip to the NAIA Tournament.
In 2022-23, the Evangels continued to perform at a high level of excellence on the court, closing out the year with a 23-7 overall record and finished in a tie for second in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings at 17-5. Over the course of the season, MACU wracked up three wins against teams ranked in the NAIA Top 25, including an 83-77 win over No. 16 Sterling on New Year's Eve, a 77-56 victory at No. 19 Science & Arts on Feb. 7 and a 90-66 win at home against No. 17 Texas Wesleyan on Feb. 4. As a result, MACU qualified for its third straight NAIA Tournament.
During the 2021-22 season, MACU turned in its best season in program history, finishing the campaign with a 28-5 overall record and also boasted the most wins since the program joined the SAC in 2007 with a 19-3 league mark.
Dutton helped lead the Evangels to their first ever NAIA Tournament win in the history of the program on Mar. 11 when MACU topped Briar Cliff 76-64 in the NAIA Opening Round. In that victory, the Evangels also established the most single-season wins in program history, supplanting the 2004-05 team that went 27-8.
MACU picked up some massive wins over the course of the season, which includes the program's first ever win against powerhouse program Oklahoma City on Jan. 6, topping the Stars for a 71-53 road victory. Two weeks later, the Evangels picked up another massive win by powering past No. 9 Wayland Baptist for an 83-74 victory inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 20.
From Dec. 7 to Feb. 10, the Evangels also established the program's longest winning streak, stringing together 14 in a row that was capped off with a 73-69 home win over Oklahoma City, MACU's first win over the Stars inside the Gaulke Activity Center.
In her first season as the Associate Head Coach in the COVID-19 impacted 2020-21 campaign, Dutton helped lead the Evangels to their first ever Sooner Athletic Conference regular season title, going 6-0 in league play while also earning the program's first NAIA Tournament bid as the Evangels wrapped up the year with a 9-3 overall record.
In the NAIA Tournament, MACU narrowly missed winning their first ever NAIA Opening Round game as the Evangels nearly overcame an 11-point fourth quarter deficit before falling 85-83 against Columbia (Mo.) on Mar. 12.
Dutton helped lead the Evangels to back-to-back NCCAA National Championships - the third and fourth in program history - in 2018 and 2019, the program's first two titles since moving from NCCAA Division II to Division I in 2007-08. The 2018-19 Evangels posted the NAIA Era single season records for total wins (25) and wins in the Sooner Athletic Conference (14), breaking marks they had set during their 2017-18 title run.
During the 2019-20 campaign, Dutton guided the Evangels to their fourth-straight 20-win season, closing out the year with a 21-11 overall record and also finished fourth in the SAC standings for the fourth consecutive year with a 12-8 league mark.
Dutton has mentored some of the best players to ever dawn a MACU uniform, which includes the 2020-21 NCCAA Player of the Year and two-time NAIA All-America Honorable Mention selection Lexi Hernandez, 2021-22 NCCAA All-America Second Team honoree Ossyana Ozoani, three-time NCCAA First Team All-American Alexis Shannon, NCCAA Third Team All-American Shaylan Coleman and the 2016-17 NCCAA Player of the Year Sarai Rodriguez.
Dutton came to MACU after serving two years as a graduate assistant in the women's basketball program at Southern Nazarene University.
While at SNU, Dutton was heavily involved in the development of their student athletes. She also helped schedule, plan and run all team practices, aided in the individual workouts of all team members and prepared scouting reports and implemented game plans for upcoming opponents. Dutton's work also included monitoring academic progress, planning community outreach projects and assisting the weight training staff with all strength and conditioning workouts.
Dutton is no stranger to MACU, as she spent the last two season of her playing days in an Evangels uniform. As a senior at MACU, she played in 32 games, averaging 3.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and shot 82.9 percent from the free throw line. Her efforts helped the Lady Evangels win its most games (18) and conference games (11) since joining the NAIA.
Dutton holds a Master of Arts Degree in Sports Management and Administration from SNU, a Bachelor of Science in Multidisciplinary Business and English from Mid-America Christian and an Associates of Arts from Hill College.
