From MACU Sports Information
Siloam Springs, Ark. — The Mid-America Christian University Lady Evangels charged out of the gate to a 24-point lead in the first half and coasted to a 61-54 victory over the John Brown University Golden Eagles in Sooner Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon (Jan. 19) in Siloam Springs, Ark.
The Lady Evangels’ defense stifled the Golden Eagles to only a 15.4 percent (4-of-26) shooting clip in the first half, including 1-of-14 from two-point range.
After Sierra Shipley opened the game with a three for JBU, the Lady Evangels quickly took charge as a three by Parris Price capped a 19-3 surge over an eight minute span.
It was a 19-8 lead when the Lady Evangels (11-5, 2-3 SAC) blew the game wide open by scoring the next 13 points, including 10 points off turnovers. Threes by Emilie Schirmer and Kourtni Williams and a score from Sabrina McKinney made it 32-8 at the 4:42 mark.
The Lady Evangels went on to take a 36-14 advantage into the locker room.
JBU came out strong in the second half with a 15-4 spurt and came within 40-29 on a three-point play by Kortni Barenberg seven minutes into the second half.
The Lady Evangels quickly responded as consecutive treys by Price and another trey from Schirmer ballooned the lead back to 20 at 52-32 with 8:26 left.
Shipley wouldn’t let the Golden Eagles (7-11, 2-4 SAC) go quietly and scored seven points to spark a 14-0 run that cut the lead to 54-48 with 2:37 remaining.
But three free throws by McKinney and four freebies from Schirmer down the stretch closed out the win for the Lady Evangels.
Schirmer and Williams each scored 13 to lead the Lady Evangels, with Schirmer also recording a team-high eight rebounds. McKinney added 11 along with a game-high six assists.
Shipley led JBU with 14 points, with Barenberg and Lauren Rogers each chipping in with 11.
The Lady Evangels will next face a stern challenge at No. 4-ranked Oklahoma City University on Tuesday evening (Jan. 22) at 6 p.m.
Levi Convirs is the Sports Information Director at Mid-America Christian University.