Box Score Laura Castillo scored 18 points and
LaTericka Anderson 17 as No. 25 Wayland Baptist got back to its winning ways with an 85-67 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over Southwestern Christian on Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center.
"I'm glad that we won that one," said Wayland coach
Alesha Robertson-Ellis, her team coming off an 80-78 setback to defending national champion and second-ranked Oklahoma City University on Thursday. "It was tough coming off an emotional loss, but going into the week I felt (Saturday) was the more important game of the two, even though winning that one on Thursday would have helped. I felt like our girls did a nice job of getting mentally prepared for today."
The Flying Queens (14-9, 9-4 SAC) trailed by seven early but quickly caught up and led by 12 at halftime. Wayland then slowly built its lead to as many as 27 in the second half before claiming the 18-point victory.
Wayland had 20 turnovers – twice as many as Southwestern Christian (11-14, 7-6) – but offset that by outrebounding the Lady Eagles, 61-42.
Iesha Greer led the way with 11 rebounds, followed by Anderson and
Nina Sato with nine each and
Stephanie Afunugo with eight. Afunugo also ended with 14 points while Sato had 11 off the bench, missing a double-double by one board.
Regan Hestand also came off the bench for her eight points, seven rebounds and four assists as she saw more playing time due to an injury to
Shawna Monreal, for whom
Jada Riley started.
"Regan's been getting in the gym extra and working on that shot, and it showed today," Robertson said. "They need to get some confidence and get more up to game speed, but those freshmen will be fun to watch.
"It was nice to be able to rest (Monreal) and let that ankle heal for a couple of more days."
The Queens fell behind 11-4 but scored nine straight points – the last three coming from
Laura Castillo – to assume a 13-11 lead. It was tied at 15 when Wayland went on another nice run, this one 10-0, that put the home team in control for good. Castillo and
Gabby Gonzales nailed back-to-back treys during that push.
Up 42-30 at the break, the Flying Queens slowly but steadily opened a 20-point spread, 62-42. They took their biggest lead of 27 points, 74-47, after a 12-2 run that culminated with eight minutes to go. Hestand contributed a 3-pointer and a steal and assist to Castillo on a fast-break.
Wayland shot 44 percent (32-of-73) from the field while holding the Lady Eagles to just 27 percent (23-of-84) overall and 24 percent (8-of-34) from three-point range. The Lady Eagles were led by Kim Hayes' 12 points.
Wayland is now 8-1 in the Hutch with just two home games left, against No. 10 Oklahoma Baptist on Feb. 26 and Mid-America Christian on Feb. 28. The Flying Queens hit the road next week to take on John Brown (10-15, 5-9) in Siloam Springs, Ark., on Thursday then St. Gregory's (3-20, 2-12) in Shawnee, Okla., on Saturday.
John Brown upset Texas Wesleyan on Saturday, 65-59.
"John Brown on the road is going to be tough," Robertson-Ellis said. "We're going to take one game at a time for this last stretch, and each game is super important. If we win or lose will mean a lot."
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