The Basics

Score: Evangel 86, Williams Baptist 85

Location: Springfield, Mo. (AGFinancial Arena) 

Records: Evangel (2-5), Williams Baptist (4-2) 

Box Score 

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Evangel Women's Basketball returned home on Monday (Nov. 25) evening, hosting the Williams Baptist Eagles in their final home non-conference match of the season. Despite trailing for the majority of Monday's contest, the Valor led at the most pivotal point of the game, scoring a basket with just a second remaining from Ali Kamies to push the Valor to a come from behind, 86-85, victory over the Eagles.

Williams Baptist came out with a strong full court press in the first quarter, causing trouble for the Valor offense as multiple turnovers resulted in points for the Eagles. Evangel turned the ball over nine times in the first quarter, resulting in 12 points for Williams Baptist. Despite the Valor hitting a pair of three pointers to open the quarter of play, the Eagles fast paced offense resulted in Evangel trailing, 29-17, at the end of the first period of play.

Evangel outscored the Eagles, 22-13, in the second quarter of play, finding a solid press break to get past the Williams Baptist defenders. The Eagles also shot just 31 percent in the second quarter to Evangel's 50 percent, as junior Ali Kamies scored 10 points on her own in the quarter. Lexi Berry was also pivotal in the Valor run in quarter number two, as she knocked down a pair of jumpers, making it just a three point deficit at halftime, 42-39.

The Valor were unable to generate the same offense in the third quarter as they had in the second quarter. Evangel actually shot much better (57.9%) in the quarter, but again were met with the WBU full court press. Five more Evangel turnovers in the quarter allowed the Eagles to score 12 additional points, resulting in the Valor trailing again by double digits at the end of the quarter, 73-63, against the tough Eagles squad.

In the final quarter of play, the Valor knew they needed to clean up on turnovers and outscore the Eagles by at least 10 points to tie the game up. The Valor shot their highest percentage of the evening from the floor (58.8%), helping to work a come back in the game. Williams Baptist scored a bucket to open the final quarter, taking a 12-point lead over EU, but a 19-7 run over the following six minutes of play helped Evangel tie the game up at 82-82. Resa Martin scored five points to cap off the run, tying the game up with just 3:08 remaining in the contest. The next few Evangel possessions resulted in missed shots in turnovers, as the Eagles were able to score a trio of points to lead, 85-82, with 1:21 remaining. Again, Evangel turned the ball over, but the Eagles responded by giving the ball back away to the Valor. Ali Kamies made sure to not miss her opportunity, driving in the lane to make it an 85-84 ballgame with 34 seconds remaining. On the following possession, Williams Baptist did not wait to run down the clock. A drive from an Eagle player was met with Jazzy Kirby in the paint, as Kirby took the contact and earned a charge, giving Evangel possession with 20 seconds and trailing by a point. The Valor raced down the floor and found Kamies on the left wing and Ali put her head down and drove into the paint, scoring a tough layup through contact to give the Valor an 86-85 lead with just 1.2 seconds on the clock. Williams Baptist struggled to inbound on their final possession, calling three timeouts, and ultimately had a shot opportunity at the buzzer that was contested by Kamie Jenkins, but the strong defense was enough to alter the shot, as EU escaped with a come from behind, 86-85, victory on Monday.

NOTABLE 

• Ali Kamies scored a career high 23 points in the win, including the game winning shot. Kamies also finished with a double-double, pulling down 10 boards.

• Kamie Jenkins pulled down a team high 15 rebounds and scored 15 points in the win.

• Carson Dillard rounded out double digit scoring, putting up 14 points.

• Kamies also led the team in assists, passing off six.

• Evangel shot 53.7 percent from the floor, their highest percentage of the season.

UP NEXT 

Evangel WBB returns home to host the Saint Mary Spires next Wednesday (Dec. 4) evening at 5:30 p.m. in AGFinancial Arena. Wednesday's game will be broadcast by Mediacom22.

For the latest information on Evangel Athletics, visit Facebook at Facebook.com/EvangelValor, Twitter (@EvangelValor), or EvangelAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on their favorite EU teams by downloading the Evangel Athletics Gameday App through the App Store or Google Play.  

—#OneValor—