Box Score
FORT WORTH – It was difficult to pick the top performance of the day –
Maci Merket's triple-double,
Kendrick Clark's career-high 31 points as part of a double-double, or
Gabby Gonzales' near school-record seven 3-pointers – as the sixth-ranked Wayland Baptist Flying Queens extended their winning streak to eight games with a 94-66 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over Texas Wesleyan here Saturday afternoon.
The Flying Queens (18-3, 11-2 SAC) were led in scoring by the sophomore Clark, who in addition to her 31 points and also pulled down 11 rebounds. Clark, of Georgetown, surpassed her previous best scoring performance of 19 against Our Lady of the Lake in the second game of the season by a dozen points. Clark finished 13-of-18 from the field, hitting all three of her 3s.
Merket ended with 15 points to go with 14 rebounds and 10 assists, as well as three steals, three blocks and no turnovers. The rare triple-double came on the heels of three double-doubles this season for the junior from Canadian.
Gonzales, meanwhile, hit seven 3-pointers – all but one in the second half – to come up one shy of the school record held by her former teammate, Shayla Monreal, last season. It's the second time Gonzales, a senior from Lubbock, hit seven 3s, both times against Texas Wesleyan. Oddly, she was 7-of-12 from long range and 7-of-13 from the field overall in both contests.
Against Texas Wesleyan (7-15, 4-9), Wayland jumped out to an 11-2 lead, although the Lady Rams tied it up at 13. The Flying Queens never gave up the upper-hand, though, and went on to lead 25-19 after the first quarter and by 18, 52-34, at the half.
TWU cut it to seven, 58-51, midway through the third, but Gonzales drilled a pair of 3s and Clark scored to quickly get the margin back to double-digits. Wayland then poured it on in the fourth quarter, outscoring the home team, 26-9, as Gonzales recorded four 3s.
In addition to Clark, Gonzales and Merket,
Deborah VanDijk also reached double digits with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
Wayland outrebounded the Rams, 50-35. Adding to Clark and Merket's combined 25 boards,
Jada Riley pulled down five and
Morgan Bennett contributed eight, along with eight assists for the NAIA assists leader.
Wayland shot 49 percent (39-of-80) from the field, including 40 percent (14-of-35) from 3-point range. Texas Wesleyan had a shooting percentage of 34 against the Queens' defense, which forced 20 turnovers.
After being on the road for their last two games, the Flying Queens return to their home court for their next Sooner Athletic Conference game at 6 p.m. Thursday against Central Christian College (1-21, 0-14 SAC), a team Wayland beat in the first half of conference, 91-35.
The Flying Queens end next week by hosting No. 5 Oklahoma City (19-4, 12-2), which after being knocked off at USAO on Thursday, 76-62, bounced back with an 85-73 win over Mid-America Christian on Saturday.
