Box Score ESPANOLA, N.M. – Playing hours after they moved up to third in the NAIA Top 25, the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens relied on incredible ball security, a dominance on the boards and their inside game to defeat Northern New Mexico here Tuesday night, 77-52.
Wayland committed just four turnovers to log its second win in two weeks over Northern New Mexico (1-12). The Flying Queens defeated the Eagles on Nov. 21 in Plainview, 103-46.
Tuesday night's rematch was much closer, with Wayland leading just 16-10 after the first quarter before settling in during the second quarter to go up 39-21 at the half. The Flying Queens were up by 25, 65-40, after the third quarter.
"Very few times do we travel and play on the same day, so we're learning how to do that," Wayland coach
Alesha Ellis said.
The Flying Queens committed just three turnovers in the first half and only one in the second half.
"(NNMC) is very scrappy, so we wanted to make sure we took care of the ball," Ellis said. "One of our goals is to keep turnovers under 10. Last year we had a lot of games we had 20 or more, so that's been a huge step. It's super important, especially against teams like this that can make you play ugly."
WBU's top four inside players all scored in double figures, led by
Kambrey Blakey who came off the bench for a season-high 16 points. She was followed by
Kelea Pool with 13,
Deborah VanDijk with 12 and
Kaylee Edgemon with 10.
"We knew we had an advantage underneath, so we wanted to get the ball inside," Ellis said.
Blakey, Pool, VanDijk and Edgemon combined to go 21-of-33 from the field (64 percent). After hitting a dozen 3-pointers in their Nov. 21 matchup, the Flying Queens went 7-of-21 from long range.
"We didn't knock down some of the shots we normally do, but we found a way to win," Ellis said. "They played hard."
Wayland ended with 46 rebounds, doubling the Eagles' total of 23.
Maci Merket led the Flying Queens with seven, followed by Pool,
Morgan Bennett and
Payton Brown with six each. Brown and Bennett ended with eight points apiece.
Although the Eagles shot just 26 percent (8-of-31) from the field in the first half and 18-of-60 (30 percent) for the game, Ellis said the Flying Queens struggled at times on defense.
"Defensively we have to keep getting better. We didn't take care of that end like we know how to."
The game was the first of six straight on the road for the Flying Queens, who now get a nine-day break before returning to Sooner Athletic Conference play Dec. 13 at Central Christian (Kan.).
Of Wayland's No. 3 ranking, a three-place jump from the team's No. 6 preseason spot, Ellis was pleased.
"We're proud of that, even if it doesn't mean much at this point."
The Flying Queens' pre-Christmas trip to California will feature games against three Top 25 teams, including Vanguard (7-0), which remained No. 1. WBU's other West Coast opponents, Westmont (6-2) and The Master's (5-3), both slipped in the Top 25, from 8
th to 11
th and from 14
th to 22
nd, respectively.
NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll (Dec. 4)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] |
RECORD |
FINAL POINTS |
|
| 1 |
1 |
Vanguard (Calif.) [7] |
7-0 |
218 |
| 2 |
5 |
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) [2] |
9-0 |
213 |
| 3 |
6 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
6-0 |
201 |
| 4 |
4 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
8-1 |
200 |
| 5 |
3 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
6-1 |
194 |
| 6 |
12 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
9-1 |
183 |
| 7 |
2 |
Shawnee State (Ohio) |
8-2 |
176 |
| 8 |
7 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
6-2 |
173 |
| 9 |
9 |
Montana Western |
4-0 |
160 |
| 10 |
10 |
Oklahoma City |
8-1 |
150 |
| 11 |
8 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
6-2 |
148 |
| 12 |
15 |
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
5-1 |
147 |
| 13 |
18 |
Providence (Mont.) |
7-2 |
133 |
| 14 |
16 |
Menlo (Calif.) |
7-0 |
132 |
| 15 |
NR |
Talladega (Ala.) |
10-1 |
119 |
| 16 |
21 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
9-2 |
114 |
| 17 |
13 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
6-3 |
101 |
| 18 |
24 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
8-1 |
98 |
| 19 |
20 |
Lyon (Ark.) |
6-1 |
95 |
| 20 |
NR |
William Penn (Iowa) |
8-1 |
93 |
| 21 |
22 |
Arizona Christian |
6-4 |
77 |
| 22 |
14 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
5-3 |
76 |
| 23 |
NR |
Baker (Kan.) |
10-1 |
67 |
| 24 |
11 |
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
6-3 |
59 |
| 25 |
NR |
Dillard (La.) |
8-3 |
40 |
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Others receiving votes: Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 39, William Woods (Mo.) 32, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 31, LSU Alexandria (La.) 15, Clarke (Iowa) 10, Xavier (La.) 10, Huston-Tillotson (Texas) 9, William Jessup (Calif.) 6, Faulkner (Ala.) 3, Georgetown (Ky.) 3
