Flying Queens put away CCC, look to No. 4 OCU

Box Score Wayland Baptist broke open a close game by scoring 17 unanswered points in the second quarter, and the No. 6 Flying Queens strolled to their ninth straight win, 95-59, over Central Christian (Kan.) on Thursday night in Hutcherson Center.
 
"I don't feel like we were mentally ready for this game," Wayland coach Alesha Ellis said. "Coming off the win we had last time (91-35 on Jan. 20 in Kansas), it's hard to get them mentally ready, but you have to be ready for every game. I don't feel like we were in the beginning, but we played a little bit better in the second half."
 
Maci Merket scored 17 points and Kendrick Clark 16, and Morgan Bennett recorded a 12-point, 12-assist double-double to lead the Flying Queens (19-3, 12-2 SAC), who next face off against fourth-ranked Oklahoma City (20-4, 13-2) in a showdown at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Hutch.
 
"Both teams know it's a big game," Ellis said. "They are well-coached and bring it every game, and what makes them so challenging is they have weapons at every position. We just have to hope we catch some of them on an off-day."
 
The Stars, who defeated Oklahoma Panhandle State on Thursday, 87-66, will be looking to avenge Wayland's 66-57 victory at OCU on Jan. 18.
 
"We beat them last time so they're going to get after us," Ellis said. "It's good that we're on our home floor. We just have to protect it."
 
Wayland improved its home record to 9-1 against SAC newcomer CCC (1-22, 0-15), a team the Flying Queens hammered by 56 points in their first meeting in Kansas. This time, the Flying Queens got all they wanted from the last-place Tigers over the first quarter-and-a-half as the visitors held a 27-24 lead.
 
"It's amazing how much energy they bring," Ellis said of the Tigers. "They have something they're trying to accomplish and we saw it tonight."
 
Down 27-24, the Flying Queens finally put their foot down and took control.
 
Merket started the 17-0 run with a pair of 3-pointers around two free throws by Deborah VanDijk. Bennett tacked on an and-one, Clark nailed a 3, and Wayland was off to the races.
 
Up 43-31 at the half the Flying Queens kept it up in the third quarter when they outscored the Tigers, 35-12, and took a commanding 35-point, 78-43 lead.
 
Coach Alesha Robertson-Ellis emptied her bench the rest of the game, and Wayland went up by as many as 39.
 
All 10 Flying Queens (Kambrey Blakey sat out with an illness) scored. In addition to Merket's 17, Clark's 16 and Bennett's 12, Gabby Gonzales scored 12 points, Kelea Pool 11 and VanDIjk nine.
Pool ended with four blocks.
 
Wayland launched 44 3-pointers, hitting 12 of them (27 percent.) Overall, the Flying Queens shot 43 percent (37-of-86), compared to CCC's 27 percent (21-of-78).
 
CCC held a 58-57 rebounding edge, but the Tigers committed 22 turnovers, 10 more than Wayland.