Box Score
SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – Wayland Baptist held a five-point, fourth-quarter lead but was outscored 19-8 down the stretch as the fifth-ranked Flying Queens fell to No. 19 John Brown in Sooner Athletic Conference play here Thursday night, 72-64.
Playing their first game since returning from Hawaii two weeks ago, the Flying Queens (9-2, 3-1 SAC) logged their second straight loss, having fallen to No. 3 Campbellsville, Ky., 65-52, in the Aloha State in their most recent game.
Against John Brown (9-4, 3-1), which was coming off a 103-27 non-conference win over Central Christian (Mo.) on Monday, Wayland came out on fire and roared to a 12-2 lead. The Lady Golden Eagles closed the gap to 17-16 by the end of the first period, and it was close the rest of the way.
Wayland trailed 36-34 at the half but, after trailing by as many as six in the third, led 49-47 going into the final 10 minutes.
The Flying Queens were up by five, 56-51, with 6½ minutes to play, then things went south.
John Brown scored six straight points to go up by one, marking the first of seven lead changes over the next two minutes as the teams exchanged buckets.
Wayland went cold after that, missing its next eight field goal attempts and suffering a turnover. The Lady Golden Eagles took advantage, going on a game-deciding 8-0 run.
The Flying Queens' 2½-minute scoring drought ended when Morgan Bennett scored after a steal with 39 seconds to go, but it was too late. John Brown hit 3-of-4 free throws as Wayland missed its final two shots.
Bennett ended with a dozen points to go with a team-high eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
Maci Merket led Wayland in scoring with 16 points, hitting 6-of-21 from the field.
Nina Sato added 15 points and Deborah VanDijk 11. Kambrey Blakey added seven points and
Gabby Gonzales three to round out the scoring for the Flying Queens, who shot 36 percent (27-of-75) from the field, including 22 percent (6-of-27) from 3-point range, and 44 percent (4-of-9) from the foul line.
The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, hit 25-of-51 field goals (49 percent), including 5-of-17 3s (29 percent), and 17-of-22 free throws (77 percent). Baily Cameron's 19 points paced the home team, with Jana Schammel added 12 and Rosa Orpo 10.
Wayland was outrebounded 38-31.
Next for the Flying Queens is a 1 p.m. Saturday meeting at Bacone in Muskogee, Okla. The Lady Warriors (10-3, 2-2) edged Oklahoma Panhandle State on Thursday, 64-57. It was Bacone's third straight win since a narrow 62-59 home loss to No. 8 Oklahoma City on Dec. 16.
