Flying Queens overcome slow starts

Box Score In more ways than one, Wayland Baptist's home-opener Thursday in Hutcherson Center got off to a late start, but the No. 22 Flying Queens didn't let that get to them as they claimed a 78-51 victory over the Northern New Mexico Lady Eagles.

"We were a little slow at the beginning, I don't think we were connecting on the offensive end," Wayland coach Alesha Robertson-Ellis said in describing her team's flow early in the contest. "(NNMC) was really scrappy and I just don't think we were quite prepared for that."

Even before the Queens' slow start, the game was delayed more than 30 minutes when referees were not available. Fortunately, the officials for the men's game which followed weren't far off, and they called the women's contest as well.

Wayland (2-0) never trailed in the game, but it wasn't until late that they really blew it open.

The Queens led the Lady Eagles (2-2) 18-11 after the first quarter and by 11, 37-27, at halftime.

The closest NMMC got after that was 10 points at 46-36, at which point Wayland scored nine unanswered points to begin putting it away.  WBU's largest lead was 30 on a 3-pointer by Gabby Gonzales right before the end of the game.

"I feel like the girls came out in the second half and did a much better job," Robertson-Ellis said. "They had more energy and did what it took to win the ballgame."

The coach said that she wouldn't let the team be unprepared again.

Senior twin sisters Shayla and Shawna Monreal led the team in scoring with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Shayla had half of Wayland's six 3-pointers. They were closely followed by Maci Merket, who added 13 off the bench. Jade Jones posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

The Flying Queens forced the Lady Eagles into 28 turnovers, almost twice as many as Wayland (15), which came up with 13 steals. The Queens got 44 rebounds, 19 of which came on the offensive end where Jones grabbed five.

The Flying Queens head to Canyon on Saturday for an exhibition game at 3 p.m. against West Texas A&M University. They will be back in Hutcherson Center Nov. 18 to play Eastern New Mexico.