Box Score
SHAWNEE, Okla. –
Angeleigh Davis scored 20 points and
CeCe Williams hit six clutch free throws down the stretch to lift the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens to a 73-68 Sooner Athletic Conference win over St. Gregory's University here Thursday night.
“We did a good job late in the game of getting some stops and making some big buckets down the stretch,” Wayland coach
Tory Bryant said. “The one thing we haven't done well this season is win a close game, so I was proud of them for that.”
Wayland (9-7, 1-1 SAC) trailed 64-63 with close to 1½ minutes left, but outscored the Lady Cavaliers (7-8, 0-1) 10-4 to the final horn to take the win. The last six of those points came at the free-throw line where Williams made all six of her attempts. For the game, Williams was 7-of-7 from the charity stripe and finished with 15 points, matching her season-best from the first game of the season.
“She did a good job late,” Bryant said of Williams. “All of the kids played with good energy. They rose to the occasion when they needed to.”
The Queens' bench outscored St. Gregory's 28-2. Wayland's reserves were led by
Christie Mooney with 11 points and
Rochelle Norris with nine.
“We have some kids who can score when they need to,” Bryant said.
The Lady Cavs were led in scoring by Leticia Silva with 25 points.
Wayland fell behind 13-6. A bucket by
LaTericka Anderson with just under six minutes left in the first half gave the Queens their first lead, 25-23. Mooney followed with a 3-pointer – Wayland's only long-range bucket of the game in eight tries – and
Laura Castillo scored to put the Queens up by five.
It was nip and tuck the rest of the way.
Wayland, ahead 36-34 at halftime, fell behind by as many as five points in the second half but scored eight unanswered to regain the lead. Back-to-back traditional 3-point plays by Davis helped spark the Queens, who went on to take a 51-45 advantage.
But St. Gregory's came back, assuming a 64-63 lead before Wayland finished strong. A bucket by Anderson put the Queens ahead for good, then a steal and bucket by Mooney increased the lead. Williams' six free throws put it away.
Wayland shot 39 percent (28-of-71) from the field and 70 percent (16-of-23) from the free-throw line.
“Our shot selection was better tonight,” Bryant said. “We took good shots down the stretch.”
The coach was happy to see his team respond to its lowest offensive output of the season in a 70-49 loss to Tarleton State during its last outing Dec. 29.
“To come out and put up 73 on the road was good to see,” he said.
The Queens committed just 12 turnovers compared to St. Greg's 26.
“I thought we bothered them with our pressure,” Bryant said.
Although it's early in conference, he said the win was big for the Queens, who had won just once in their last five games.
“We play our first three conference games on the road, and you don't want to get yourself in a hole where you're 0-3. Our goal now is to win Saturday and put ourselves in a position to where we're 2-1.”
The Queens stay in Shawnee to take on Oklahoma Baptist at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Lady Bison (7-5, 0-1) fell to No. 1 Lubbock Christian on Thursday, 87-60.
“Any conference road win is big,” Bryant said. “(Wins) are hard to come by. Every game we play in conference is going to be a dogfight.”
