OLATHE - The Kansas Wesleyan women came one game shy of reaching next week's NAIA's Sweet 16 - an opposing player named Shy the primary culprit.
Shy Christopher scored 40 points and Mid-America Christian (Okla.) pulled away late in the fourth quarter for a 94-74 victory over the Coyotes in a Second Round game of the NAIA National Championship on Saturday night inside the Cook Center.
Christopher, a senior guard and transfer from Division I Southeast Missouri State, scored 19 in the first half and 21 in the second, going 14 of 23 from the field and 11 of 16 at the free throw line. She had seven points in the fourth quarter as the Evangels outscored KWU 34-21.
"You've got to credit her, she's a great finisher through contact off one foot, off balance," coach Ryan Showman said on the postgame radio show. "It was incredible some of the shots she made. For us to have a chance to win we had to force her to take those shots and unfortunately for us she knocked them down."
The Coyotes, the 15th seed in the Duer Quadrant, upset No. 2 MidAmerica Nazarene on Friday and ended the season with a 24-8 record that included an 18-4 slate and the Kansas Conference's regular season title. MACU (27-6) was the seventh seed and eliminated No. 10 Northwestern (Iowa) 74-64 Friday night.
Christopher scored 12 in the first quarter and the Evangels took a 19-11 lead into the second period. The Coyotes stormed back and had leads of 33-32 and 35-34 before trailing 36-35 at the break.
Hampton Williams' 3-pointer got KWU within 56-53 late in the third quarter but six straight points extended the Evangels' lead to 62-53 early in the fourth quarter.
Leading 76-68 with just over four minutes left, MACU closed out the game on an 18-6 run that included the final eight points. The Evangels outscored the Coyotes 58-39 in the second half.
"I thought it was a great effort, it just wasn't good enough tonight against a really good team," Showman said. "At this level they're all really good and we had to play a certain way, but we weren't able to do that consistently."
The Coyotes shot 40.3 percent (27 of 67) but were just 5 of 24 beyond the 3-point arc. MACU shot 57 percent (33 of 58), 4 of 9 from deep, and outscored the Coyotes in the paint 72-48.
LaMyah Ricks and Williams led KWU with 12 points apiece while Jocelyn Hall had 11 and Angel Lee and Cat Bowman 10 each. Ricks also had six assists and two steals. Bowman grabbed a team-best eight rebounds and Hall had seven, but MACU won the rebounding battle 40-31.
The 2024-25 season was in stark contrast to a year ago when KWU finished with a 17-13 record.
"I was proud of everyone tonight," Showman said. "Right now, it's raw and in the moment, it hurts. But when we have a chance to reflect it's going to be a season to remember, one of the best in school history.