Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY – If the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens were hoping to catch the Oklahoma City University Stars looking ahead to their Saturday showdown against Lubbock Christian, they didn't.
The third-ranked Stars extended their NAIA-best winning streak to 16 in a row as they cruised to an 81-48 victory over the turnover-prone Flying Queens as Wayland opened the second half of Sooner Athletic Conference play on Thursday night in Abe Lemons Arena.
“We didn't play very good at all,” Queens coach
Tory Bryant said. “OCU is very good. They got after us and we didn't respond.”
It was the third loss in a row for Wayland (12-11 overall, 4-5 SAC), which looks to end that skid on Saturday when the Flying Queens take on Mid-America Christian University (3-6, 12-8), a 71-57 loser to No. 1-ranked Lubbock Christian University. Tip-off from the MACU campus is at 1 p.m.
OCU (17-2, 8-0), which takes on LCU on Saturday in the NAIA Game of the Week, never let Wayland in Thursday's rematch of a game won by the Stars in Plainview, 84-64. In that Jan. 12 game, the Queens were within eight points with six minutes to play. On Thursday night, it was never that close after the first few minutes.
The Stars scored the game's first seven points and held a 12-point advantage, 33-21, with 2:25 left in the first half. But OCU scored eight straight points to take a 41-21 lead into intermission.
The defending NAIA national champions began the second half by scoring in three-point increments as OCU's first five tallies after the break were either 3-pointers or three-point plays. Katie Hall began that spurt by converting back-to-back “and 1s,” then Lauren Gober nailed a pair of 3-pointers. Ravynn Brown capped the run with another bomb, and by then the Stars had assumed a 56-28 lead.
OCU's largest lead was 40 points. The 33-point final margin marked Wayland's largest deficit of the season, eclipsing a 96-66 loss to No. 1 LCU. It also was the Flying Queens' lowest point total of the year. The team's previous low was 49 points against Texas A&M-Tarleton State.
Wayland was hurt by 29 turnovers, 19 of those coming in the first half. OCU scored 33 points off those turnovers, compared to Wayland's four points off of the Stars' nine turnovers.
“That was the biggest stat, right there,” Bryant said.
The coach also pointed to his team's lack of offense. Only one player,
LaTericka Anderson with 14 points, scored in double figures as Wayland finished 17-of-46 from the field with just two assists.
“Oak City did a good job of rushing us and forcing us into some quick shots,” Bryant said. “We struggled shooting around the basket and didn't do a good job with offensive rebounds.”
The Stars were within one point of having five players in double figures. Hall led the way with her fourth straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
“They did a good job in the paint,” Bryant said. “They just outmanned us tonight. They did a good job of attacking us both offensively and defensively.”
The Queens look to get back to their winning ways Saturday against Mid-America Christian, a team Wayland beat, 84-73, in their Jan. 10 match-up in Plainview.
“They're tough at home,” Bryant said of MACU. “We've got to play better and give ourselves a chance to win.”
