Game 2
Evangel vs. Southern Nazarene
Nov. 9, 7 p.m.
Ashcroft Center
Springfield, Mo.
Go to the basketball broadcast page
The Lady Crusaders began their 2006-07 season at home against No. 5-ranked (NAIA II) College of the Ozarks on Nov. 7. Evangel kept pace with C of O - last year’s NAIA II national tournament runner-up - in the first half, down by only two points at the half, 30-28. College of the Ozarks, however, got on track in the second half to outscore Evangel, 43-25, and won 73-53.
EU’s scoring was paced by Rachel Damanskis with 15 points and Kristin Metzger came off the bench to score 13. Damanskis also led the EU ladies’ rebounding. She had eight and Heidi Kalsbeck added seven. EU led the rebounding, 40-37, but C of O shot better from the field, 43.1 to 38.1, made 19 of 29 free throws (.655) to Evangel’s 8 of 17 (47.1) and had ten fewer turnovers, 22-32.
Southern Nazarene University (SNU) is off to a 2-0 start. The Crimson Storm opened their season at home in Bethany, Oklahoma, ( Sawyer Center) in the SNU Classic. Southern Nazarene defeated Lyon College ( Ark.) 75-55 on Nov. 3 and the following night defeated its sister school and Heart of America Athletic Conference member MidAmerica Nazarene University by one point, 76-75.
Against Lyon, Fatou Ndiaye led the SNU scoring with 14, followed by Khady Ngom (13), Lana Keith (11) and Tejana Elmore (10). Ngom also had nine rebounds.
In the game against MidAmerica Nazarene, SNU was led by Ngom’s 23 points. Tejana Elmore, as she did versus Lyon, came off the bench to score in double figures (17). Ngom and Lashelle Chandler each grabbed 10 rebounds.
Seasons like the 2005-06 Southern Nazarene team experienced are rare at the Bethany, Oklahoma, school. SNU finished with a 9-21 overall record last year and was 4-14 in the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC).
The Crimson Storm have won seven NAIA Div. I national championships (1989 in Kansas City, 1994-97 and 2003-04 in Jackson, Tenn.). In addition, SNU was the national runner-up in 1998 and 2002 and made Final Four appearances in 1993, 1999-2001.
SNU has won 14 Sooner Athletic Conference titles, including a string of 12 straight (1988-2000). In 2000-01 SNU did not win the league title, but qualified for the NAIA I tourney and advanced to the Final Four round. In 2001-02 the team won the SAC tourney and ended up the national runner-up. The 2002-03 SNU squad was the national champion (no SAC title) and won the national championship in 2003-04 after winning the SAC tourney. SNU also won the league tournament in 2004-05 and advanced to the second round of the national tournament. Last season was the first in 14 seasons that a SNU team has not qualified for the national championship series.
Southern Nazarene leads the series 5-0 and is 2-0 versus Evangel in Ashcroft Center.
Evangel is led by Leon Neal. Neal has a 283-125 record in 12 years.
Southern Nazarene’s head coach is Lori Carter. Carter is beginning her fourth year and has a 75-34 record.
The EU ladies will take a week off before beginning their Heart of America Athletic Conference schedule with a home game against Central Methodist University on Thursday, Nov. 16. Game time is 5:30 p.m. in Ashcroft Center.
In addition to all of their postseason games, two regular season Lady Crusader basketball games will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio, KGMY 1400 AM. The games are: at MidAmerica Nazarene on Dec. 7 and at College of the Ozarks on Jan. 23.
Several women’s games will be webcast by Evangel University’s 2006-07 Internet broadcast partner,
All In Broadcasting, at www.allinbroadcasting.com. The postgame show will provide a complete recap of each game and it is sponsored by the Assemblies of God Credit Union. Evangel’s Internet partner is Best Western - Deerfield Inn.
Ed Beach, Evangel director of broadcasting and marketing for athletics, will handle the play-by-play duties as the “Voice of the Crusaders” for the fifth season in a row.
Beginning after Dec. 2 of this year, a selected men’s and women’s “game of the week” will be available for viewing about a week after the contest. The Evangel games can be viewed at All In Broadcasting, www.allinbroadcasting.com. All games will be archived up to one month after the season’s end. Fans can access a game for 99 cents for 24 hours or for $2.99 can watch the game unlimited times and download it as well.
All games are a simulcast with the radio coverage on ESPN 1400 AM and the video portion is produced by ECTV (Evangel Cable Television), Evangel’s student television station.