Box Score SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – Wayland Baptist led by 19 points early in the second half but fell victim to determined John Brown University's hard-charging comeback as the No. 10 Flying Queens dropped their Sooner Athletic Conference opener here Thursday night, 63-58.
"We have to figure out our team chemistry," Wayland coah
Alesha Robertson-Ellis said.
Wayland (2-3, 0-1 SAC) led 39-20 shortly after halftime but were outscored 43-19 the rest of the way by the Golden Eagles (6-3, 1-0), who are ranked the equivalent of 35
th in the NAIA.
The Flying Queens clung to a 41-40 advantage going into the fourth quarter then were able to open up a comfortable eight-point, 52-44 lead with 7:20 left in the game. But in the last five-plus minutes, Wayland was outscored 14-2.
The Flying Queens' last points came on a bucket by
Laura Castillo with 2:15 left that made it 58-54. John Brown took its first lead since being up 12-10 at the end of the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Kimmy Deines with 27 seconds left that made it 59-58.
Wayland called a timeout after which
Stephanie Afunugo put up a running lay-up near the free-throw line that missed. With seven seconds to go the Flying Queens fouled Kodee Powell, who after making her first free throw missed the second. But the Golden Eagles chased down a long rebound before it went out of bounds and got the ball to Baily Cameron for an and-one lay-up with 3/10ths of a second left. Cameron completed the three-point play for the final margin.
John Brown hit 10-of-29 3-pointers compared to Wayland's 4-of-13, with all of the Flying Queens' makes coming from Castillo who had a team-high 16 points. The Golden Eagles also held a big edge from the free-throw line, sinking 11-of-17. Wayland attempted just three foul shots, hitting two.
Besides Castillo, who was 6-of-7 from the field including 4-of-4 from long range, Afunugo ended with 14 points and
Shawna Monreal 11.
Nina Sato scored six points and pulled down 10 rebounds, a category where WBU outdid JBU, 39-26.
Powell led the Golden Eagles with 15 points, followed by Jana Schammel with 14. Deines and Cameron put in a dozen each.
Wayland now heads to Muskogee, Okla., to take on league newcomer Bacone at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Warriors (3-2) took on Southwestern Assemblies of God on Thursday night.
"Now we need to turn around and go win the next one," Robertson-Ellis said.
