No. 1,600 didn't come easily for Flying Queens

Box Score With 1,599 all-time wins under their belts, the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens went into their Sooner Athletic Conference opening-game Thursday night against Texas Wesleyan with determination to secure No. 1,600. Although it appeared it might at first, the win didn't come easily. The 23^rd-ranked Flying Queens managed to come out on top, though, 88-79, and secure the milestone victory.
 
"It's really special to be a part of something so unique," Wayland coach Alesha Ellis said in regard to the 1,600^th-win and being a part of the winningest women's basketball program in the nation. "The girls are really excited. To be here for this moment is something that I'm very proud of."

Members of the Flying Queens Foundation revealed a 1,600 wins banner which will be formally presented prior to Saturday's 1 p.m. game against Southwestern Assemblies of God University. The banner will then hang in the Hutch.
 
It looked as though the unbeaten Queens (5-0) would have a cakewalk against Texas Wesleyan (2-5) as Wayland scored the first 15 points of the game, including nine by Deborah VanDijk. After the first of Gabby Gonzales' seven 3-pointers that resulted in a career-high 21 points for the senior, it grew to a 16-point lead, 18-2, before the Lady Rams settled in and came storming back, scoring 10 unanswered to get right back in it.
 
Taking advantage of its quickness, Texas Wesleyan managed to go ahead when Falesha Fuller scored on a fast break to put her team up, 27-25, with 3:36 left in the first half.
 
"We had a good start but then we kinda let up. We faced a lot of adversity," Ellis said.
 
The Lady Rams' lead was short-lived as Maci Merket and Morgan Bennett drained back-to-back 3s before Kendrick Clark and Merket hit 2s that pushed Wayland back out to a 35-27 halftime lead.
 
The closest the Lady Rams came in the second half was five points when they opened the third period with a 3, but Merket answered right back for Wayland and the Flying Queens were able to keep Wesleyan at arm's length the rest of the way. The visitors from Fort Worth crept to within six on three occasions in the fourth quarter, but each time Wayland held them off with Gonzales drilling a trio of 3-pointers within a span of 90 seconds.
 
A major contributor to the Queens' offense was Gonzales, who came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points off of 7-of-12 3-point shooting.
 
"Gabby had a good game. She shot the ball really well tonight," Ellis said.
 
VanDijk also put out 21 points, seven of those from the free-throw line. Merket finished with 17 points and seven assists while Bennett had 11 points and eight helpers. Nina Sato wounded up with eight points and a pair of blocks.
 
Although the Queens' offensive output was consistently strong in the second half, the Lady Rams' defense caused Wayland a total of 21 turnovers while the opposing team had 15.
 
"Texas Wesleyan played hard and they played intense defense. They were everywhere and got a lot of loose balls that we should have gotten," Ellis said.
 
"It wasn't our most graceful game, but our leadership did what they needed to do in order to win the game."
 
The Flying Queens completed the program's 1,600^th all-time win with eight steals and 24 assists.
 
The Flying Queens will face off in their next conference game in Plainview at 1 p.m. Saturday against Southwestern Assemblies of God (4-3). The Lady Lions opened league play with a 63-59 overtime road win over Oklahoma Panhandle State.