SAN ANTONIO – Taking on the team that ended their season a year ago in the second round of the NAIA National Championships, fifth-ranked Wayland Baptist avenged that loss with an 87-79 victory over No. 6 Our Lady of the Lake University here Friday night.
Wayland coach
Alesha Ellis said the Flying Queens didn't perform flawlessly, but she was proud of their effort.
"Everybody played super hard today. They remember what happened last year," said Ellis, pointing out that senior
Morgan Bennett played the entire 40 minutes, or very close to it, in scoring a team-high 21 points.
Payton Brown added 20 points to go with eight rebounds, while
Kaylee Edgemon ended with 14 points.
OLLU led Wayland after the first quarter, 21-14, but the Flying Queens (2-1) took over in the second period and stayed ahead the rest of the way. Wayland led it at the half, 46-42, and after the third period, 63-54, before the Saints pulled to within two in the fourth quarter.
But the Flying Queens got it done at the free throw line down the stretch and wound up with the eight-point win.
"Thank goodness we hit most of our free throws," said Ellis, whose club hit 22-of-27 at the foul line.
"It was a long, hard week of preparing for this game, so I'm proud of this win for our team," Ellis said. "Our energy level was right where it needed to be. We couldn't come out and not play any minute; there was no room for error as far as energy level goes.
"(OLLU) is really good at making you turn the ball over, but I felt like we protected the ball, probably not as well as we should have, but well enough."
The coach also commended her team for its work on the offensive boards.
"I felt like we did a nice job rebounding the ball on the offensive end, and that really helped us to win."
Overall, Wayland outrebounded OLLU, 41-36, and the Flying Queens hit 9-of-23 3-pointers. The Saints were just 3-of-19.
It was the first loss of the season for OLLU, which won its first two games over Sooner Athletic Conference teams Southwestern Assemblies of God (82-46) and John Brown (95-48).
"We won but we also learned a lot," Ellis said. "We got better throughout the game."
It was Wayland's second of eight games in their first 10 against teams ranked in the Top 25.
Next up is Mary Hardin-Baylor, a team ranked No. 7 in NCAA Division III, at 5 p.m. Saturday in Belton. It will be the season-opener for UMHB, a team that returns all five starters and 11 letter winners from last year's 27-4 team that advanced to the regional round of the D3 national championships.
"We should be happy with this win but bring things back down in a hurry because we have a quick turn-around," Ellis said. "It could almost be a trap game, coming off a big win and now taking on a Division III team that's actually really good.
"We'll be expecting a bunch of our players who didn't play as much today to contribute tomorrow. We trust we have the players to pull us through.
