Watch the season opener tonight at Grace HERE, beginning at 6 p.m.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The 2016-17 season for the Mid-America Christian University women's basketball squad will be a changing of the guard, as new head coach Hannah Moeller has been given the keys to the program.
The new era officially begins tonight (Oct. 25) as the Lady Evangels will play at Grace University at 6 p.m. in Omaha, Neb.
Moeller is far from a stranger to the school or the area, having served as assistant coach at MACU in the 2010-11 season and has been the head coach at Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College (now Randall University) in nearby Moore, Okla. for the past four years.
If Moeller is able to duplicate even part of her success at Hillsdale in the coming years at MACU, it'll be a transformative moment for the program.
"I'm ecstatic to be at MACU!" Moeller said. "I am excited to build off of the success I have been blessed to have in the last few years here at Mid-America. The support and care our players receive from the University is overwhelming. I am honored to be under the leadership of President Dr. John Fozard and Jessica Rimmer, Vice President for Student Engagement and Success. I am blessed with a great staff in my assistants, Kelsie Dutton and Brooke Davidson, they work extremely hard to help make our program better and impact the lives of our players every day."
At Hillsdale, Moeller won two ACCA national championships and was named the NCCAA National Coach of the Year in 2016 while guiding a national runner-up finish.
Despite losing last year's leading scorer (Kelli Tolar), the cupboard will be far from bare for Moeller in her first season.
"We expect a great year from our returners," Moeller said. "We will be looking for them to provide a high level of leadership. In a league like the Sooner Athletic Conference, it is imperative that your returners lead your newcomers and help them learn the level of play required to be successful."
The Lady Evangels will feature an All-Sooner Athletic Conference performer both on the perimeter and the interior as starting point guard Sarai Rodriguez and starting forward D'Shala Powell (formerly Culberson) each return this season.
Rodriguez led the Lady Evangels and the Sooner Athletic Conference with 5.8 assists per game last season and also finished second on the team in scoring at 16.2 points per game.
"Sarai is coming off a great year and we look forward to watching her game continue to be stretched as a player, we feel like her best basketball is still ahead of her," Moeller said.
Powell pulled down a team-high 9.1 rebounds per game last year, including a school record (as an NAIA school) 20 rebounds in a 98-90 double-overtime win over then No. 19-ranked John Brown University (1/7/16).
"D'Shala has been a tremendous leader for us throughout the preseason," Moeller said. "As a senior that's played multiple years in the SAC, we will rely heavily on her toughness and leadership."
Senior forward Jamie Lamb is another veteran returning this year with starting experience, as Lamb played in 25 games last year with 18 starting assignments. Lamb was productive in her time on the floor, scoring 7.2 points per game and was tied for second on the team with 5.2 rebounds.
The Lady Evangels also welcome back sophomore letterwinners Janaya Hines and Brianna Kallead for this season. Hines and Kallead played in 17 and 13 games last season, respectively as freshmen.
"We are excited to see Jamie and Janaya surprise some people in the league this year," Moeller said. "They've made tremendous strides in the preseason and we expect that growth to continue throughout the year. Brianna is a sophomore who will be looked upon for her experience."
Newcomers Moeller has added to the program include senior Erika Brown and junior transfers Brittany Thompson and Tamiyjah Smith.
Brown is a 6'5 center that comes from Hill College and Southern Nazarene University prior to joining the Lady Evangels. In high school, Brown competed for the Whitney Wildcats and was a first-team all-district performer, while being named Co-Offensive MVP during her senior season.
Thompson, a 5'11 center, comes to MACU from Western Texas College, where she was a first-team all-conference selection. Thompson competed at Coronado High School and was an Avalanche-Journal All-City first-team pick.
Smith is a 5'10 junior forward that played under Moeller at Randall University. She received a second-team All-America selection in helping the Lady Saints to an NCCAA runner-up finish.
Mykayla Flores is a 5'4 sophomore that is joining the Lady Evangels after playing one season at NCAA D-I Texas A&M-Corpus-Christi.
In high school, Flores competed at Winston Churchill high school in San Antonio, Texas and produced a monster senior season that saw her average over 19 points per game, five steals, seven assists and six rebounds. Flores was named Team MVP as a senior and was selected as the team's Defensive Player of the Year the past four seasons and the team's Offensive Player of the Year the last three years.
The Lady Evangels have also added a trio of talented freshmen to the squad this season, including: Nevada Denton, Jessica Fairley and Jaidan Alley.
Denton, a 5'9 guard, competed for the Washington (Okla.) HS Warriors and was a three-time all-conference selection in leading the Warriors to three conference titles and a state runner-up finish.
Alley is a 5'8 guard that comes to MACU from Pawnee, Okla. Alley helped the Pawnee HS Black Bears to three district championships while being a 2016 Daily Oklahoman Super 5 Honorable-Mention pick and also a Stillwater News-Press All-Area first-team performer.
Fairley, a 5-10 guard out of Choctaw, Okla., earned All-City honors at Choctaw HS as the squad captured three Harrah Tournament titles.
"I really like our group of newcomers, we have a really nice mix of four transfers and three freshman," Moeller said.
"Mykayla is someone we think can have an immediate impact for us, she is very skilled and plays the game at a great pace. She is the type of player that can change a game on any given night.
"Brittany and Erica will make an immediate impact in the paint for us. Tamiyjah adds a ton of college basketball experience to the mix as well as incredible energy to the floor. All three of our freshmen had excellent high school careers and we expect each of them to do the same here at MACU."
After tonight's opener, the Lady Evangels will be at Graceland University on Thursday night (Oct. 27). The home opener will be on Nov. 7 against Central Christian College, while the first Sooner Athletic Conference game is scheduled for Dec. 1 against Texas Wesleyan University.
MACU also hosts NCAA D-II member Northwestern Oklahoma State University on Nov. 22 along with a highly-touted exhibition matchup at NCAA D-I Oral Roberts University on Dec. 14 in Tulsa, Okla.
"Our schedule will challenge us, as we play several teams that played in the NAIA national tournament last year as well as a couple in-state NCAA Division II programs," Moeller said.
"We are also excited to be able to make the short drive to Tulsa to take on ORU in the middle of December, which will be a great experience for our players. We feel strongly that our non-conference schedule will help prepare us for the very difficult SAC slate."
