Box Score Story by Mike Bennett, special contributor to www.evangelathletics.com
Missouri Valley quickly put itself in a good position on Saturday in a benchmark conference game for women's basketball. The Vikings made Evangel play catch-up, but could never be caught on the way to a 79-67 victory at Ashcroft Center.
They immediately pulled ahead 6-0 and then made six second-quarter treys to take a 19-point lead in the first half.
The outcome was important for positioning in the Heart Conference because Missouri Valley now has knotted the Valor in sixth place at 7-7 with eight games left in the regular season.
The Vikings are 11-9 overall and the Valor 8-11.
The main nemesis again for Evangel was sophomore guard Giovanna Moore, who scored 28 points, grabbed six rebounds and made four assists and two steals for the Vikings. She had scored 25 during a 87-69 victory over Evangel on Jan. 4 at Marshall, Mo.
Evangel trailed 20-13 after one quarter, but Missouri Valley used six treys to build a 41-22 lead with 2:57 left in the second quarter.
The Valor trimmed the lead to 41-30 with the last eight points of the first half. "We came out slow and got in a hole. The first half got us down," said senior forward Alexis Cauthon, who totaled team-highs of 22 points and nine rebounds. She scored 11 in the first half.
"They broke our press. Every year, they (Vikings) play us tough, play us very even. We kept battling back."
Cauthon credited teammates for her strong outputs: "They get me in my groove and are my encouragers. They set me up," she said.
Micah Clayton scored 11 points and made five rebounds and two steals for Evangel, while Alexis Roach scored 11 points and had two assists and Sophie Sparks had 8 points and 3 and assists.
Sadie Chisum made 3 steals and Jazzy Kirby made 2.
Missouri Valley shot 50% on field goals (31-for-62) and Evangel hit 38.8% (26-for-67).
The Valor kept drawing closer and then falling back again in the third quarter. It was 62-48 entering the fourth quarter before Missouri Valley boosted it to 74-52 at 5:53 after a pair of treys by Moore.
The Valor cut into the lead at the end again, but the score separation was just too much to overcome.
Evangel showed a major strength again by pulling down 15 offensive rebounds. The Valor are averaging 14 this season. The Valor led 39-37 in total rebounds and forced 17 turnovers.
The Valor return to action on Wednesday with a game at 5:30 p.m. at Graceland in Lamoni, Iowa.
Graceland defeated William Penn 59-51 on Saturday to move to 4-10 in conference and 9-11 overall.
