OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 4, 2018) – Despite the departure of many quality basketball programs from the NAIA into NCAA Division II in recent years, there still are plenty of good squads in the NAIA, a fact the Oklahoma Christian Lady Eagles were reminded of in painful fashion on Tuesday.

Mid-America Christian is one of them, and the Evangels – former Sooner Athletic Conference rivals of OC – used a 41-point, 11-rebound explosion from Alexis Shannon to spring an 84-78 upset of the Division II Lady Eagles in the Eagles' Nest.

MACU might have counted the game – its first against OC since March 2014 – as an exhibition, but the Evangels played like it was anything but that, outrebounding the Lady Eagles 52-44 and seizing control in the late minutes of what was anyone's game to that point.

Shannon, a transfer from Division I Florida Atlantic, went 15 of 28 from the field and finished only two points shy of the MACU single-game scoring record, had the game counted for the Evangels. She also had four steals and three assists.

"I have no comment other than we played zero defense," OC coach Stephanie Findley said. "I'm just real disappointed in our defensive effort. (Shannon) is a good player. I'm disappointed we didn't keep her off the boards. We knew we had to do that, and we didn't do it.

"I'm disappointed in our effort. They have a good team, but we are not representing ourselves very well."

OC (5-4), playing just its second home game of the season, lost despite a season-high 31 points from Addy Clift. Only one other OC player reached double figures – Katie Mayo, who had 15 points. The Lady Eagles shot just 35.4 percent (23 of 65) from the field.

MACU jumped to a 10-2 lead, causing Findley to call an unusual first-quarter timeout. Her team responded, briefly seizing the lead before quarter's end. With 34 seconds left in second quarter, the Lady Eagles went up 40-34 on a 3-pointer by Kendra Levings, and they had a chance to extend that lead, but a turnover led to a buzzer-beating basket by MACU that pulled the Evangels within four points.

The Lady Eagles got no separation after halftime, either. OC took its last lead with 6:14 left at 64-63 on a 3-pointer by Hannah Bentsen, but the Lady Eagles didn't score again for more than 2½ minutes. MACU took control with a 9-0 run, fueled by 3-pointers from Sydney Wycoff and Jessica Fairly.

The Evangels pushed their advantage to 76-67 on a free throw by Wycoff with 1:34 left and led by as many as 10 points in the final minute as OC tried to play the foul game.

If not for a decided advantage for the Lady Eagles in free throws – OC was 24 of 31, MACU 16 of 24 – the result would have been even more lopsided in the Evangels' favor.

OC will return to action on Thursday against Division II power Southwestern Oklahoma State. Tipoff will be at 5:30 p.m.