Box Score BETHANY, Okla. – Playing for the first time in two weeks, it took the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens some time to knock the rust off. They finally did, however, and the fifth-ranked Flying Queens rode the near double-double of
Nina Sato and a near-perfect free throw performance to a 79-50 victory over Southwestern Christian in Sooner Athletic Conference play here Saturday afternoon.
"They ran a triangle-and-two that threw us off for a little bit. And we got into foul trouble. But we kept our composure pretty well throughout all of that and did what we needed to to win," said Wayland coach
Alesha Ellis, whose Flying Queens (7-0, 3-0 SAC) are off to the best start since the 1999 team won its first 11 games.
SCU (5-4, 2-2 SAC) scored the first seven points of the game before Wayland got on the board on a bucket by Kendrick Clark more than halfway through the first quarter.
Ellis said the Eagles concentrated their defense on Maci Merket and Morgan Bennett.
"Once we settled in and got used to what they were running, we were fine," Ellis said.
The Flying Queens took their first lead 3½ minutes into the second period when a 3-pointer by
Gabby Gonzales put Wayland up 16-15.
WBU never trailed again.
Ahead 31-25 at the half, Wayland's lead was still six, 39-33, when the Flying Queens scored 12 straight points to begin pulling away late in the third quarter. Sato accounted for eight of those dozen points.
"I felt like the girls who came in stepped up. Nina did a great job and Gabby hit some timely 3s. That really helped us," Ellis said. "If (opponents) want to take someone away, we have the players to step up and fill in those gaps."
WBU's lead was 20, 57-37, after three. The Flying Queens kept pushing the rest of the way and realized their biggest lead, 29 points, at the final margin.
"Everybody played their role just right," Ellis said.
Sato finished with a season-high 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals.
Jada Riley also reached a season-best with 11 points. Kambrey Blakey finished with nine and Gonzales eight.
Merket finished with just two points but contributed eight rebounds. Deborah VanDijk and Kelea Pool pulled down seven boards apiece. Bennett ended with six assists, five points, four rebounds and three steals.
"Maci and Mo did a great job. They weren't able to contribute much scoring, but they found other ways to help," Ellis said.
Wayland hit 12-of-13 free throws (92 percent), with Sato's 4-for-4 effort leading the way.
The Flying Queens dominated the boards, 55-29, leading to an 83-55 field-goal attempts advantage. Of their 83 tries, Wayland made 31 (37 percent), including 5-of-22 3-pointers (23 percent).
"We were not hot shooting-wise, but we did what we had to to win the game," said Ellis, who added that rebounding was a point of emphasis based on last year's game against SCU. "Our post players handled them really well."
The Eagles turned it over 25 times, nine more than Wayland.
"I was really proud of Margaret (Gaydon)," Ellis said of the freshman. "She gave us some good minutes."
Next for Wayland is the Hoop & Surf Classic in Waikiki, Hawaii. The Flying Queens, who leave early Sunday morning, take on Saint Xavier, Ill., the top-ranked NAIA Division II team, at 2 p.m. CST Tuesday then No. 3 Campbellsville, Ky., at 1 p.m. CST Wednesday.
"Both of those teams will be fun to play," Ellis said.
Conference play resumes Jan. 4 in Arkansas against No. 18 John Brown. WBU's next home game is Jan. 11.
