McPHERSON, Kan. – Six Flying Queens scored in double-figures, including three with double-doubles, as No. 3 Wayland Baptist steamrolled Central Christian, Kan., in Sooner Athletic Conference action here Thursday night, 110-68.
"I'm glad to get that one over with," Wayland coach
Alesha Ellis said.
Deborah VanDijk led the unbeaten Flying Queens (8-0) with a season-high 20 points, followed by
Kambrey Blakey with 19,
Kaylee Edgemon 18,
Cailyn Breckel 16,
Maci Merket 14 and
Morgan Bennett 13. Blakey came off the bench to also pull down 14 rebounds while Breckel got 10, and Bennett dished out 11 assists. VanDijk was one rebound shy of a fourth Flying Queen with a double-double.
It was Blakey's and Breckel's second double-doubles of the season and the first for Bennett.
Playing their first game after a nine-game layoff, Wayland showed no signs of rust, racing to a 32-19 first-quarter lead. The Flying Queens dominated the second period, 31-11, and had the game well in hand by intermission, 63-30.
Wayland shot lights out in the first 20 minutes, hitting 51 percent (22-of-43) of its field goals, 46 percent (5-of-11) of its 3-pointers, and 83 percent (14-of-17) of its free throws.
Wayland continued pouring it on in the third quarter and outscored the Tigers 26-14. WBU's largest lead was 52 points midway through the fourth before settling for the 42-point victory.
The Flying Queens cooled off from long range after halftime, making just 1-of-10. Still, Wayland ended up shooting 48 percent overall from the field and 80 percent (28-of-35) from the foul line.
The 110 points marked the most for the Flying Queens since a 111-65 win over USAO late in the 2016-17 season. Wayland, which ranks third in the NAIA in scoring averaging almost 88 points an outing, has surpassed the century mark in half of its games this season.
Ellis, meanwhile, looked at her team's defense.
"We gave up 68 points, which was a few too many," she said.
Wayland, the NAIA's second-best rebounding team averaging just over 50 a game, held a 56-37 edge on the boards.
Ellis said her team wasn't hitting the boards like she wanted in the first half.
"We got onto them about rebounding at halftime and they came out and did a lot better job the second half," the coach said.
The game saw 57 turnovers: 25 for WBU and 32 for Central Christian (1-8, 0-3). Part of that for Wayland was not having backup point-guard
Payton Brown, who sat out the game with a minor injury.
"We had some girls at point who weren't used to playing there and we gave it away too much. Plus Central Christian is pretty scrappy," Ellis said.
"But overall I felt like the girls played really well, especially the second half."
The Flying Queens are back in action at 2 p.m. Saturday in Oklahoma against Langston (6-5, 1-2), which fell to Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Thursday, 74-63. It's the final game before the Flying Queens' trip to California where they will face three ranked teams, including No. 1 Vanguard, next week.
