Flying Queens anxious to show their stuff at home

Almost midway through the basketball season, the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens can proudly claim to be undefeated at home. The other part of that equation, though, is the Queens have only played at Hutcherson Center one time thus far.

It's no wonder, then, that the Flying Queens and head coach Alesha Robertson-Ellis are looking forward to the next couple of weeks when they'll play at home five times, starting with Thursday's 6 p.m. Sooner Athletic Conference matchup against Texas Wesleyan. Live video streaming and live stats will be available at www.wbuathletics.com, and the game will be broadcast locally by Danny Andrews on KKYN (106.9-FM).

"We always like it when we're at home. It's going to be such an advantage," Robertson-Ellis said. "We've had a challenging season just because we haven't been at home, but we're coming back a lot stronger."

The Flying Queens – who are 5-6 overall, 1-1 in conference, and the equivalent of tied for 35^th in the NAIA Coaches' Poll – easily won their lone home game back on Nov. 22 against University of the Southwest (N.M.), 110-49. That was Wayland's fifth game of the season, and since then the Flying Queens have played six straight on the road, most recently on Saturday in Abilene against McMurry. Wayland won, 83-61, to snap a three-game losing skid.

"We're just really happy to be (at home)," said Robertson-Ellis, whose first Flying Queens team last season was 11-3 at home as part of a 20-12 campaign. "The crowd will always help, and being on a court that you always practice on is such an advantage. I feel like that's going to help us a bunch."

The Flying Queens are hoping for strong support from the community, especially this week (Wayland hosts Southwestern Assemblies of God University at 1 p.m. Saturday) since Wayland's students are still on Christmas break.

Thursday's game will mark the Flying Queens' return to conference play after playing two SAC contests prior to the Christmas break. In those games, the Flying Queens downed Southwestern Christian (Okla.), 76-61, before losing to defending national champion and then-No. 1 Oklahoma City University, 86-74.

While Robertson-Ellis would like to have won a few more of their first 11 games, she's mostly happy with what she's seen.

"We had a few injuries at the beginning, so we got off to a little bit of a rough start. I feel like our players have responded to that and stepped up and played really well so far," she said. "There are always those games you feel like you should have won. I do feel like we have won the ones we were supposed to…, so I think our season is off to a good start."

Four Flying Queens are averaging in double-figures, with a fifth just off that pace. Leading the team in scoring is Stephanie Afunugo at 16.6 points per game, followed by Laura Castillo (13.3), Iesha Greer (11.9), LaTericka Anderson (10.7) and Shawna Monreal (9.9).

All five of those players are returners, and Robertson-Ellis said the next five – all newcomers – are starting to come into their own as well.
"We have a bunch of new kids that have come in that are young and they've been growing and learning every day, which helps a bunch because that makes us deeper on the bench," the coach said.

Robertson-Ellis said the Flying Queens will need every player to do their part for the team to repeat or better its success from last season when Wayland placed third in the conference, qualified for the national tournament for the first time in five years, and finished as a ranked team (24^th after being as high as 18^th) for the first time in a decade.

Robertson-Ellis, whose Flying Queens were picked to finish fourth in the SAC, said she's cautiously optimistic about how her team will fare. For sure she's more confident about things as a coach after a year to learn about SAC teams.

"I feel a lot like I did last year, (although) I'm more confident with it this year because I know what to expect," said last year's conference co-coach of the year. "A few teams have stepped up and gotten lot better this year, so it's going to be a good conference again. That's the beauty of playing in one of the best conferences; you know where you are in the nation."

Robertson-Ellis was encouraged by the Flying Queens' performance against Oklahoma City in their second SAC game a month ago.

"They were No. 1 in the nation, and I feel like we competed with those guys. We didn't get beat by very much.

"I feel that way and I hope my players feel like we should be able to be in the top three or four this year."

One of the teams of which Robertson-Ellis spoke previously that improved from last season is Thursday's opponent, Texas Wesleyan. The Lady Rams, who last season finished 15-16 overall 9-11 in the SAC, are 9-4 overall and 1-1 in the SAC. Like Wayland, Texas Wesleyan – ranked the equivalent of 31^st – defeated Southwestern Christian (71-58) while falling to OCU (84-69).

"They're one of those scary teams you play, a team you should beat but they're very capable of coming out with a win just because they're scrappy and long," Robertson-Ellis said. "They're well-coached and one of the teams that gave us a hard time last year.

"We expect the same this year."

The Flying Queens and Lady Rams met three times last season, with Wayland winning all three including in the first round of the SAC Tournament. The contests were as lopsided as 18 points and as close as seven.

Texas Wesleyan ranks in the top 10 in the NAIA in a number of statistical categories, including blocks per game (4.5), assists (17.6), steals (12.7) and offensive rebounds (17.4). Meanwhile, the Flying Queens are fifth in the nation in field goal percentage (46 percent), ninth in free throw percentage (73 percent) and 10^th in scoring (79.6 ppg), in addition to being a top 15 rebounding team.

Individually, Texas Wesleyan is led by 5-6 senior guard Stacey Darnley, who averages 13.5 points, just ahead of 5-11 sophomore forward Katelynn Threats. Darnley ranks third in the NAIA in steals per game (3.5), while 6-0 junior guard Onyesonam Nolisa is No. 6 in rebounds per game (11.2) and No. 9 in blocks (1.9).

If Wayland can knock off Texas Wesleyan, the Flying Queens should be favored in their next five games leading up to a Jan. 29 road game against No. 5 Oklahoma Baptist.

But Robertson-Ellis knows nothing can be taken for granted.

"If any team gets hot they're capable of winning. We have to make sure we do the things we can control and do our best at the things we can't control. I think if we do that we'll be OK."