Box Score
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Wayland Baptist took No. 12 The Master's College (Calif.) to double-overtime before falling here Monday night, 88-87.
"When you lose by one, you think about all of the things we could have done," Wayland coach Alesha Robertson said. "It eats you up even more than losing by 80 would."
In a game of huge swings that saw the Flying Queens (3-5) lead by as many as 14 points and trail by as many as 13, the Lady Mustangs (8-3) scored the first six points of the second overtime period before Wayland's Angeleigh Davis scored the next six to tie it at 83. The teams traded buckets before The Master's went up 87-85 with 45 seconds left.
Following a miss by the Flying Queens, the Lady Mustangs hit one of two free throws with eight seconds to go to take a three-point lead. After a timeout by Wayland, which just saw Laura Castillo – the team's top 3-point shooter – go to the bench with her fifth foul, the Flying Queens hurried the ball up the floor and managed to make a shot. Unfortunately, the last-second bucket by Shayla Monreal was about a foot inside the three-point arc on the left side in front of WBU's bench, and The Master's avoided a third overtime and escaped with a one-point win.
"She didn't get behind the 3-point line," Robertson said of Monreal. "I forgot to tell her that part."
Wayland, which put up 89 shots (making 38 for a 43 percent success rate), was led by Iesha Greer's 20 points and 12 rebounds, her third consecutive double-double and fifth of the season. Davis ended with 18 points and Laura Castillo added 16 points. Stephanie Afunugo recorded her third double-double with a dozen points and 11 rebounds, and Christie Mooney chipped in nine points.
Jacquelyn Marshall led four players for The Master's in double-figures with 17 points. Marshall also pulled down 21 rebounds, blocked five shots, had three steals and handed out two assists.
Despite what Robertson called "a physical game," Wayland shot just six free throws, making them all, as the Lady Mustangs were whistled for only 11 fouls compared to 17 for WBU. The Lady Mustangs made 16-of-21 foul shots.
The Flying Queens committed just 14 turnovers and ended with 45 rebounds, five fewer than The Master's, which blocked 10 shots.
Wayland led the entire first half, which closed with back-to-back 3-pointers from Castillo that put the Flying Queens ahead by 11, 43-32. The second half opened with a traditional three-point play by Mooney to put Wayland up by 14 points…but then the bottom dropped out.
The Master's scored 27 straight points to go from 14 down to a 13-point lead, 59-46.
"When you go that long without scoring, it makes it tough," Robertson said.
Wayland went more than eight minutes without scoring before a 3-pointer from Afunugo kick-started an 18-4 Flying Queens run, which resulted in WBU taking a 64-63 lead with 3:37 left.
The game was tied at 67 when Castillo put in a left-handed layup with 19 seconds left in regulation. Wayland was 1.4 seconds away from posting its first road win of the season when Marshall tied it with a put-back bucket, forcing the first overtime of the season for the Flying Queens.
Wayland never trailed in the first five-minute extra period. The Flying Queens were up by four with 1:35 left, but didn't score again while the Lady Mustangs tied it up with 25 ticks left. Wayland held for the last shot, but an attempt by Greer just before the buzzer didn't fall.
"We played better on the defensive end. We executed our game plan pretty well," Robertson said. "Offensively, we have to take care of the ball and make our little shots. If we do that then we win."
The Flying Queens return to action at 7:30 p.m. (CST) Tuesday in Santa Barbara, Calif., against No. 8 Westmont College (Calif.), the defending NAIA national champion.
"It's going to be tough," Robertson said, "especially because we used a lot of our legs tonight."
Westmont (3-3) was ranked third in the pre-season . The Warriors, after losing exhibitions against Pepperdine (57-55) and USC (73-38), have fallen to No. 4 Westminster (Utah), 84-53; NCAA Division II provisional member Azusa Pacific (Calif.), 77-62; and No. 3 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), 79-70.
Tuesday's game will be Wayland's final contest of 2013.
