Feb 24, 2026

🏀 KWU Women's Basketball is No. 8 seed, heads to No. 1 seed Evangel for KCAC Quarterfinals

Posted Feb 24, 2026 2:10 PM

The Coyotes will travel to the Ozarks for their first-round game in the Kansas Conference Women's Championship Tournament.

WEDNESDAY'S GAME

Opponent: Evangel Valor

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: AGFinancial Arena, Springfield, Mo.

LIVE COVERAGE

The video stream of the game will be available online on the Urban Edge Network. The streams will also be available on KCAC Network.

KCAC Quarterfinals at Evangel: https://urbanedgenetwork.net/watch/11934

Live Stats will be available at https://kwucoyotes.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary

Radio coverage will be on KINA-FM with Tyler Henry on the call. Pregame begins at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The online stream is available at https://radio.securenetsystems.net/ce/kina2.

TICKETS

All ticketing will be done through HomeTown Ticketing digitally on the KCAC Tickets page. NO TICKETS WILL BE SOLD ON-SITE.

  1. Single Day Tickets (TAXES AND FEES NOT INCLUDED)
  2. Adults: $15
  3. Seniors (55 & Up): $10
  4. KCAC Faculty and Staff (with valid KCAC Member Institution ID): $6
  5. Children 6-17: $6
  6. KCAC Students (with valid KCAC Member Institution Student ID): FREE
  7. Children 5 & Under: FREE

RECORDS

  1. No. 8 seeded Kansas Wesleyan 14-14, 11-11 KCAC
  2. No. 1 seeded Evangel 24-2, 21-2 KCAC

THE SERIES

  1. KWU has won six of the seven games between the two schools since 2011. Evangel's victory was earlier this year 96-89 on Jan. 17 in Mabee Arena. Wesleyan won twice during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons after the Valor joined the KCAC.

KANSAS WESLEYAN AT A GLANCE

  1. The Coyotes of first-year coach Harper Taylor have been in postseason mode for a while. They won their last three regular-season games when a loss would have disqualified them from gaining a tournament berth. They defeated Bethany, Southwestern and Ottawa, the latter 75-68 Saturday in Ottawa to earn the eighth seed.
  2. The Coyotes trailed by seven at the midway point of the third quarter Saturday but battled back. They scored the final six points after Ottawa got within 69-68 with 2:06 left. Jocelyn Hall led the way with 22 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Izzy McCool scored 20 and on 7 of 9 shooting and Odessa Ozuna had 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
  3. KWU won the KCAC regular season title a year ago and defeated No. 10 MidAmerica Nazarene in the first game in the NAIA Opening Round, but Ozuna and Hall are the only two who were part of the regular rotation.
  4. Ozuna scored 21, McCool 19 and freshman Anna Jueneman 17 in the game against Evangel in January. The Coyotes trailed by 15 three times in the fourth quarter but narrowed the deficit to five (92-87) with 1:18 left.
  5. Ozuna leads a balanced scoring attack with a 13.5 average. McCool averages 12.8 and Jueneman 10.0 but was at 12.9 against conference opponents. McCool is the top rebounder at 5.8 followed by Ozuna at 5.7. Ozuna also averages 4.9 assists and Jueneman 2.1 steals.

EVANGEL AT A GLANCE

  1. The 15th-ranked Valor has thrived under first-year coach Madi Wallace, who was hired in April to lead her alma mater where she played from 2015-18. Wallace coached at Mission University before coming back to Springfield.
  2. The Valor has won seven in a row since losing to Bethel 81-79 in overtime Feb. 2 in North Newton. The other loss was to Columbia 82-74 Nov. 4 in Springfield. Evangel defeated Sterling 83-73 Saturday in Sterling and Oklahoma Wesleyan 75-68 last Wednesday in Bartlesville, Okla.
  3. Scoring is Evangel's forte - 91.2 points per game while allowing 67.6. The Valor surpassed 100 points six times earlier this season and relies on its defense, specifically full court pressure, to generate points. Opponents are averaging 23.4 turnovers. Evangel shoots 47.5 percent overall, 36.2 percent from the 3-point line and has 19.7 assists per game.
  4. Junior center Heaven Shockley averages a team-best 14.7 points and 7.0 rebounds. Senior guard Carson Dillard averages 14.3 points, senior guard Ali Kamies 12.5 and graduate guard Cassidy Hambleton 12.2 and 5.6 assists. Dillard has a team-best 70 3-pointers (70-171).
  5. Evangel shot 58 percent in the first game against KWU, but the Coyotes had just nine turnovers. Shockley scored 24 points, Kamies 16, Hambleton 13 and Dillard 12. The Valor led 52-48 at halftime and 76-66 after three quarters.

COACH HARPER TAYLOR

"I think our team peaked at the right time and we're playing our best basketball. I do think some of our best games are still ahead of us. We have a lot of things working for us on a lot of different levels.

"The way that (Evangel) can put up points offensively as well as get stops and steals with their full court press is a recipe for a really good team. They definitely pose some challenges for us.

"I feel like we've been a little more fluid and consistent these last couple weeks. Being able to keep that pace and consistency is something that we'll definitely have to have to get a win. I also think the experience that we have from the last time we played them will help us at their gym.

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