Evangel hosts College of the Ozarks
Tuesday, Dec. 11, 5:30 p.m.
Ashcroft Center* Springfield, Mo.
Evangel is 2-5 overall. The Lady Crusaders’ most recent game was on Dec. 6 at home versus Avila. Avila won 67-51. EU’s complete schedule with results is in the left-hand column of this page.
College of the Ozarks is undefeated this season with an 10-0 record. Included in those 10 wins are four victories over Heart of America Athletic Conference teams - Evangel (82-63, home, Nov. 6, season-opener), William Jewell (76-57, home, Nov. 9, Coke Classic; 89-78, home, Nov. 26), and Lindenwood (89-42, home, Nov. 10).
Evangel leads the series 26-23. College of the Ozarks, however, has won the last five meetings, including an 82-63 victory on Nov. 6 of this season in Pt. Lookout, Mo. The game was the season-opener for both squads. Last year, C of O defeated Evangel 76-42 in Pt. Lookout and 73-53 in Springfield. The Evangel women’s last win against C of O was on Jan. 31, 2005 by a 63-49 score. The Lady Crusaders own a 16-8 series record vs. C of O in Ashcroft Center. After winning six home games in a row against C of O, Evangel has dropped the last three. College of the Ozarks defeated EU 73-53 last season on Nov. 7, 2006; 63-45 in 2005-06 and 73-69 in 2004-05 on the Lady Crusaders’ home floor. Prior to these losses, EU hadn’t lost at home to C of O since the 1996-97 season (76-63).
Evangel lost a home conference game on Dec. 6 to Avila, 67-51. Avila led by only two points at the half, 32-30, but dominated the main stat categories and the second half to register the 16-point win. EU managed to score on just 26.5 percent of its shots - 4 of 23 in the second half (.174) - and Avila connected on 51.2 percent of its field goals. The visiting Lady Eagles won the rebounding war, 49-17, and had fewer turnovers, 16-25.
The Lady Crusaders did well at the line, making 21 of 28 (75.0). Avila made 25 of 34 (73.5). Utilizing its inside game, Avila only tried five 3-points (made 0). EU’s outside shooters made just 4 of 17 treys for a 23.5 percentage.
Kelsie Hargus led Evangel’s scoring with 13 points. Megan Jewell and Caitlin Russell came off the bench to score 10 points each. Ashlee Luko dished out five assists.
Avila’s Jaime Kenney led all scorers with 21 points. She made five of nine field goals and 11 of 12 free throws and had eight rebounds and a pair of blocks. Ashley Townsend scored 16 points on seven of nine shooting from the floor and two of three accuracy at the line. She also had seven rebounds. Sarah Parker added 14 points and five boards. Alyson Young led all leapers with 10 rebounds.
The No. 1-ranked (NAIA II) College of the Ozarks Lady Bobcats traveled to Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 7-8, to play in the Trevecca Nazarene Classic. C of O defeated Cumberland (Tenn.) 73-63 on Dec. 7 and downed the host, Trevecca Nazarene, by a 100-89 score on Dec. 8. Cumberland is ranked No. 16 on the NAIA Div. I national poll and made it to the Elite 8 round of the NAIA I national tourney last season. Trevecca Nazarene is ranked No. 9 in Div. I of the NAIA and is the 2006-07 national tournament runner-up.
Versus Trevecca Nazarene, the spotlight was on the Lady Bobcats’ Kayli Combs. She scored a career-best 36 points and also had seven rebounds and four assists. Combs hit 6 of 12 from the 3-point arc and made all 14 of her free throws. Lindsy Murray added 19 points, Rebekah Howard had 12 and Tag Morris totaled 11 points. Josie Sparkman chipped in seven points and brought down 10 rebounds. C of O made 27 of 33 free throws (.818) and made 53 percent of its field goals.
Brianna Mingus - 9.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 31.4 3FG% (11-35), 76.5 FT % (13-17)
Kelsie Hargus - 9.1 ppg, 59,9 FG% (22-44), 47.4 3FG% (9-19), 78.6 FT% (11-14)
Megan Jewell - 8.7 ppg, 40.0 3FG% (8-20)
Caitlin Russell - 8.4 ppg, 35.5 3FG% (11-31), 75.0 FT% (12-16)
Kate Prentice - 4.7 rpg
Katie Burger - 3.6 rpg
Janessa Demuth (17.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.9 apg, 3.9 spg, 54.9 FG%, 45.0 3FG% (18-40), 80.9 FT% (28-35)
Kayli Combs (15.9 ppg, 47.5 FG%, 45.7 3FG% (32-70), 94.3 FT% (33-35)
Lindsy Murray (14.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 61.1 FG%
Rebekah Howard (10.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 46.7 FG%, 41.4 3FG% (12-29)
Emily Nichols (8.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 51.6 FG%, 71.4 FT% (22-31)
Whitney Pollard, Evangel’s starting post player, is sick with the flu. She is not expected to return to the squad for practice until Dec. 13 at the earliest.
Both teams began their 2007-08 season in Pt. Lookout on Nov. 6 and College of the Ozarks easily defeated Evangel 82-63. C of O was ranked No. 1 on preseason NAIA II poll at the time. The Lady Bobcats cruised to a 53-21 halftime advantage. Evangel outscored C of O 42-29 over the last 20 minutes, however, the Lady Bobcats were leaning more heavily on their bench in the second half. C of O made 50.0 percent of its field goals to EU’s 39.2 percent. From 3-point range, EU enjoyed a 42.1 to 38.9 advantage in the percentage. EU made 8 of 19 treys to C of O’s 7 of 18. At the line, C of O connected on 68.8 percent (11-16) and EU made just 57.7 percent (15-26) of its charity attempts. College of the Ozarks won the board battle, 43-30, and had five fewer turnovers, 20-25. The steals are noteworthy as 14 of EU’s 25 turnovers came about by C of O steals. Breaking the game down by scoring opportunities, C of O led in fast break points (27-9), points off turnovers (28-17) and points in the paint (34-20).
EU was led by Megan Jewell, who came off the bench to score 16 points. Jewell made 6 of 12 from the field, including 3 of 5 shooting from the 3-point arch, and made her only free throw attempt. Kelsie Hargus added 14 points as a starter. Michelle Michener also came off the bench to score 11 points and control five rebounds.
Janessa DeMuth led C of O with 16 points. She made 6 of 9 of her field goals (1-2 treys) and all three free throws, while dishing out six assists and tallying four steals. Rebekah Howard scored 15 points and only missed one shot. She was 6 of 7 from the floor, 1-1 from 3-point range and 2 of 2 at the line. Kayli Combs also scored in double figures, getting 13. She made 5 of 10 field goals, including 3 of 7 treys. Lindsy Murray added 11 points and five rebounds. Emily Nichols came off the bench to lead all rebounders with 12 boards.
Evangel is led by Leon Neal. Neal began his 14th year as EU’s head women’s basketball coach in 2007-08 and has a 293-150 record at Evangel. Neal (Evangel, 1989) has directed six of his teams to Heart of America Athletic Conference championships and the EU ladies have advanced to the NAIA II national tournament six times with Neal at the helm.
College of the Ozarks is guided by George Wilson. Wilson (Drury, 1963) is in his 11th season at C of O. Nine of his teams have advanced to the NAIA II national tournament and the Lady Bobcats have won eight Midland Collegiate Athletic Conference titles. Wilson is 273-61 (.794) in his 12 seasons at C of O and, in 43 basketball seasons, he has an impressive 832-345 (.707) record. He compiled a 559-284 (.663) record in 31 years as a high school boys’ coach. Wilson’s last two College of the Ozarks teams finished as the national runner-up in the NAIA II tournament.
Evangel: Michelle Michener ranks No. 3 in assist/turnover ratio (5.0)
College of the Ozarks: Janessa DeMuth ranks No. 2 in steals per game (4.3) and No. 9 in field goal percentage (59.5). As a team, C of O ranks No. 3 in rebound margin (12.0), No. 3 in 3-point FG% (44.4), No. 4 in FG% (49.1), No. 4 in 3-point FG per game (9.8), No. 5 in scoring offense (89.1), No. 6 in total rebound defense (31.3), No. 7 in scoring margin (23.6), and No. 9 in assists per game (19.4).