After their outstanding 113-53 road victory Saturday over Southwestern Christian University, the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens returned to their home court Tuesday night and secured another Sooner Athletic Conference win as they triumphed over the Oklahoma-Panhandle State Aggies, 75-65.
The conference-leading, fifth-ranked Flying Queens (15-2 9-0Â SAC) got off to a rocky start offensively.
Kambrey Blakey, who finished with 10 points, got Wayland started off with a steal that she converted to a layup, but the Flying Queens trailed the Aggies (8-7, 4-5) the remainder of the first quarter, down 13-11 at the first buzzer.
"They gave us trouble last year, they gave us trouble this year," Wayland coach
Alesha Ellis said. "They play really hard and really well; they're coached well and they're very disciplined. With that kind of mixture, they become dangerous."
One thing the Queens did extremely well Tuesday was fight for offensive rebounds when their shots failed to fall. They out-rebounded the Aggies 23-7 on the offensive end and 52-39 total.
"It was 23-7 on offensive boards, and we worked hard for that, but our shooting percentage was not good," Ellis said. "It's not a good feeling to walk away with, but I know that our kids are competitive enough to get that out of our minds and just run with the good and learn from the bad."
And she was right. After shooting only 11 1/2 percent (3-of-26) from the field in the first quarter, the Queens went into the second with enough determination to snag a small lead and hold on to it.
It was tied at 26, but Wayland went on a half-ending 12-4 run to lead by eight at intermission. The Aggies scored the first two points of the third period, but that's as close as they ever got.
In addition to Blakey, the Queens had two others contribute in double figures:
Deborah VanDijk ended with 14 points, and
Maci Merket led the team with her second double-double of the season: 19 points and 10 boards, along with five steals.
Morgan Bennett,
Kaylee Edgemon and
Payton Brown contributed eight points apiece, with Bennett also producing eight assists, six rebounds and four steals.
The Aggies were led by Addison Munsch, who had 23 points. They shot 41 percent (22-of-54) in field goals.
The Queens synched their victory on 33 percent (26-of-78) field goal shooting, but it was their hustle and resolve that carried them to the end. The Queens finished with 15 steals, compared to the Aggies' 7, and forced OPSU into 25 turnovers, 10 more than the Queens' 15.
"A sign that you have a good team is pulling out a win like that. We found a way to win, probably off of offensive rebounds," Ellis said. "Now we just have to come back with our confidence back up Thursday and then prepare for Saturday. That's a big one."
The Queens will be back at home for their next two games this week. Next up on Thursday at 6 p.m. is Bacone, which is 0-12 overall and 0-9 in the conference. The Queens will then play John Brown University at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Golden Eagles are 11-5 overall and 7-2 in conference play.
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2018-19 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll (Jan. 15)
| RANK |
WEEK |
SCHOOL [FIRST PLACE VOTES] |
RECORD |
POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) [9] |
17-0 |
219 |
| 2 |
2 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
14-2 |
211 |
| 3 |
4 |
Montana Western |
14-1 |
203 |
| 4 |
2 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
14-2 |
201 |
| 5 |
6 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
14-2 |
191 |
| 6 |
7 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
17-2 |
184 |
| 7 |
8 |
Shawnee State (Ohio) |
16-3 |
174 |
| 8 |
8 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
13-4 |
171 |
| 9 |
5 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
13-4 |
165 |
| 10 |
21 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
14-4 |
152 |
| 11 |
14 |
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
14-4 |
146 |
| 12 |
10 |
Oklahoma City |
14-2 |
142 |
| 13 |
11 |
Menlo (Calif.) |
13-4 |
134 |
| 14 |
15 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
12-5 |
130 |
| 15 |
12 |
Talladega (Ala.) |
16-3 |
119 |
| 16 |
17 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
14-3 |
111 |
| 17 |
22 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
13-5 |
100 |
| 18 |
16 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
13-4 |
99 |
| 19 |
20 |
William Penn (Iowa) |
15-1 |
94 |
| 20 |
13 |
Providence (Mont.) |
13-5 |
90 |
| 21 |
18 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
11-5 |
84 |
| 22 |
18 |
Lyon (Ark.) |
12-3 |
70 |
| 23 |
23 |
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
11-6 |
64 |
| 24 |
NR |
Arizona Christian |
13-6 |
63 |
| 25 |
25 |
LSU Alexandria (La.) |
13-4 |
47 |
Receiving Votes:Â Loyola (La.) 31, William Jessup (Calif.) 30, Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 27, Benedictine (Kan.) 15, John Brown (Ark.) 14, Huston-Tillotson (Texas) 10, William Woods (Mo.) 5, Pikeville (Ky.) 5
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