South OKC News

The No. 25 MACU women's basketball team wrapped up the 2022 portion of the season with its biggest victory of the campaign thus far as the Evangels built a huge second half lead before holding on for the 83-77 win inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Saturday.

 

TOP PERFORMERS

• Shy Christopher – 26 Points, 10-15 FG, 2-3 3FG, 4-6 FT, 5 Assists, 4 Reb, 2 Steals
• Jaci Littell – 13 Points, 3-8 3FG, 2-2 FT, 4 Assists, 3 Steals, 2 Reb
• Aneli Thomsen – 10 Points, 4-7 FG, 6 Reb
• Whitney Outon – 7 Points, 3-5 FG, 9 Reb, 2 Blocks

GAME SUMMARY

• First Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian converted on its first three three-point attempts through the first 1:05 as triples from Whitney Outon, Jaci Littell and Shy Christopher gave the Evangels the early 9-5 edge.
  • After a Bailey Albright layup trimmed the MACU lead in half, the Evangels rattled off six-unanswered as a pair of Littell foul shots made it a 15-7 game with 6:26 to go.
  • Sterling stormed back by scoring seven of the next nine points to close it to 17-14 at the 4:19 mark on a Taya Wilson layup off a Becky Stucky steal.
  • With both teams going scoreless over the next 1:47, Christopher's second three-pointer of the contest ignited a 12-6 MACU surge as Ashley Hopper's lay-in pushed the Evangels' edge with 51 seconds left.
  • Sterling's Kasen Schultz finished off the period by getting the layup to with five seconds left to make it a 29-22 game.
• Second Quarter
  • The Sterling defense kept MACU off-the-board through the first 2:38 before back-to-back buckets from Stucky and Taya Wilson closed it 29-26 at the 8:21 mark.
  • With six-and-a-half minutes left, Christopher ignited the Evangels offense by finishing off a three-point play with an excellent drive and scoop shot down the left baseline before Littell's steal led to a Kyleigh Leverich fastbreak three-ball to extend the MACU edge to 37-28 with just under six minutes to go.
  • Sterling once again scored five straight to bring it back down to a two-possession game, but the Warriors were unable to climb any closer the remainder of the half as another Leverich long-range bomb brought MACU's advantage out to 42-35 with three minutes left.
  • On both team's final possessions of the half, Christopher once again made a strong move down the left side by euro stepping between two defenders before finishing off the left-handed layup to beat the shot clock at the 18-second mark, but the Warriors' Karsen Schultz was able to draw a foul with 1.7 seconds left and knock down one of two free throws to make it a 45-40 game at the break.
• Third Quarter
  • Mid-America Christian opened the second half as a Sydney Wycoff board and quick outlet to Littell led to another fastbreak three-pointer on MACU's first possession, but the Warriors scored five of the next six to bring it back to a 49-45 contest with just under eight minutes to go.
  • After Bailey Albright finished off a score in the paint at the 6:37 mark, Aneli Thomsen ignited a MACU run with a midrange jumper from the right elbow as the Evangels scored 11 of the next 13 points, capped off on Leverich's three-pointer from the left corner off a press break to swell the MACU edge to 64-49 with 3:23 left.
  • Sterling scored the next seven to trim the deficit to 64-56 with just under a minute remaining, but Thomsen gave MACU the momentum back going into the fourth quarter with another triple from the left corner off a press break to send it to 67-56 going into the final period.
• Fourth Quarter
  • The Evangels defense clamped down on Sterling to start the fourth as the Warriors were held to just two points through the first 3:20 while back-to-back buckets from Outon and Christopher pushed the MACU advantage to 74-58 at the 6:46 mark.
  • Even though an Albright three-pointer helped end the drought on the ensuing possession, MACU swung back to take its largest lead of the contest behind a Christopher steal and strong fastbreak finish at the rim before Wycoff pushed in a layup two possessions later with 4:17 left to make it a 79-61 game.
  • Sterling got hot from behind the arc in the final four minutes as the Warriors drained four triples during a 14-2 surge as Kali Briar's field goal from downtown with 1:07 to go brought it back to a two-possession game at 81-75.
  • After Ashley Hopper and Schultz traded scores to keep it at a six-point game, Wycoff made one of the biggest plays of the game on MACU's final possession as she ran down an offensive board on a missed shot from Littell as the Evangels dribbled it out to seal the 83-77 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian put together its best shooting performance of the season in the victory as the Evangels shot a season-high 31-for-62 (50 percent) from the field and also shot a season-best 10-of-22 (45.5 percent) from three-point range. Despite coming up short in the losing effort, Sterling also shot well, hitting on 30-of-70 (42.9 percent) of its attempts while also going 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) from downtown, including 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) in the fourth quarter.
• Even though both teams shot well from the field, MACU and Sterling each struggled from the charity stripe as the Warriors finished 9-for-15 (60 percent) while MACU mustered just a 11-of-20 (55 percent) conversion rate.
• The two teams were relatively even in their floor game as MACU held a 43-42 edge on the glass while both teams struggled in possession with each team committing 20 turnovers to go with 17 assists.
• Shy Christopher notched her second 20-point performance in the last three games as the redshirt sophomore guard poured in a career-high 26 points on 10-of-15 from the field, including 2-for-3 from three to go with a team-high five assists along with four rebounds and two steals.
• While Jaci Littell struggled from the field, shooting just 4-for-14, the junior guard shot well from behind the arc by knocking down 3-for-8 to finish with 13 points along with four assists and a team-best three steals.
• Aneli Thomsen rounded out MACU's double-digit scorers with 10 points on 4-of-7 from the floor to go with six boards.
• Kyleigh Leverich narrowly missed breaking into double figures as she went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc for nine points while dishing out four dimes and pulling down three boards.
• Whitney Outon led MACU on the glass with nine rebounds and seven points on 3-of-5 shooting and a pair of blocked shots. Sydney Wycoff also turned in a strong floor game with seven points to go with five boards and four assists.
• Mid-America Christian's win over Sterling is its first against a team ranked in the NAIA Top 25 this season. MACU's last top 25 win came against No. 9 Wayland Baptist (Texas) inside the Gaulke Activity Center on Jan. 20 last season.
• The Evangels have also now won three straight game against Sterling since the 2012-13 season and is also the team's first win over the Warriors at home.

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