Box Score Another day, another hard-earned victory for the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens, who on Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center defeated Mid-America Christian University, 91-69, for their 14th straight victory.
A constant theme of late has been how the No. 14 Queens (18-4, 13-1 Sooner Athletic Conference) have played through tough shooting or turnover games. On Saturday, the shooting from the guards behind the arc (2-of-13) helped the Lady Evangels (9-13, 6-8) stick around heading into halftime, 43-33.
MACU guard Sarai Rodriguez caused problems for the Queens, finishing with 21 points including 14 in the first half.
"No. 10 (Rodriguez) was trouble," Wayland coach
Alesha Robertson-Ellis said. "She got our girls in foul trouble."
Although the guards weren't having the hottest shooting night, they did lock down on defense. MACU guard Kelli Tolar is the NAIA's third-leading scorer, averaging almost 21 a game, but was held to only 12 points off of 3-of-11 shooting.
WBU guard
Shawna Monreal stepped up to the challenge.
"I felt like Shawna did a good job on her," Robertson-Ellis said.
Monreal finished the game with 10 points and six assists.
Fortunately for Wayland the post players picked up the slack. Thanks mostly to the posts, WBU scored 60 of its 91 points in the paint.
"The post players played well today," Robertson-Ellis said. "It was a nice win to have with our guards not shooting well."
And no post player made a bigger impact on the offensive end than sophomore
Nina Sato, who finished with 18 points off of 9-of-14 shooting. Robertson-Ellis has been pleased with Sato's performances of late and expects her to continue her aggressiveness in the paint.
"She's a very smart player and just works hard," the coach said. "The more confidence she gets, the better she will be. She could be an all-American by the time she leaves."
Not too far behind Sato were senior
Stephanie Afunugo and junior
Jade Jones. They both finished with the same double-double stat-line of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Both also have four double-doubles on the season.
Senior
Krystal Forthan contributed nine points and four rebounds off the bench.
Although getting out to a 67-53 lead at the end of the third, the Queens didn't pull away until the fourth, going on an 18-3 run that sealed the deal.
The Queens shot 64 percent from the field in the second half.
"We're deep and that's what makes us tough," Robertson-Ellis said. "We've been pretty consistent across the board."
The Flying Queens next go on their last road trip before the end of the regular-season, starting at 6 p.m. Thursday against the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (5-14, 4-10), which on Saturday defeated St. Gregory's, 63-47. Wayland defeated USAO in the first half of conference play, 76-50.
"Hopefully we can find someone who is hot offensively," Robertson-Ellis said. "We have to shoot the ball much better against them."
Wayland will try to extend its longest win streak since the 1991-92 Queens won 16 in a row.
