Jenna Cooper scored a career-high 23 points and was one of seven Flying Queens with at least eight points as sixth-ranked Wayland Baptist downed LSU-Alexandria on Thursday afternoon in Hutcherson Center, 90-73.
Playing their first game in 12 days, the Flying Queens (8-2) opened up an 18-point lead early in the second quarter and were up by as many as 24 in the third. The Generals (6-4), who were ranked No. 23 in the preseason and currently are the equivalent of 37
th, pulled to within eight, 73-65, midway through the fourth before Wayland re-established defensive control and scored 10 unanswered points to secure the victory.
Cailyn Breckel supplied six of those win-sealing 10 points, including a 3-point play when the sophomore was fouled on a strong drive in the lane.
Kaylee Edgemon added the other four points.
Cooper, the first-year transfer from Abilene Christian, ended 6-of-8 from the field (3-of-4 from 3-point range) and hit all eight of her free throws for her 23 points, surpassing her previous-best of 15 in the season-opener.
Edgemon came off the bench to hit 16 points in 15 minutes,
Kelea Pool put in 13 points and 6-foot-3 freshman
Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant, in her first action of the season, ended with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Kambrey Blakey also scored nine, while
Morgan Bennett and
Cailyn Breckel had eight each. Bennett dished out seven assists.
LSU-Alexandria, having started the game with just seven of its 10 roster players, played the last 17 minutes with only six after one player was tagged with two of the three technical fouls assessed against the Generals.
Wayland, which is ranked fifth in the NAIA in defensive rebounds and eighth in total rebounds, dominated the boards, 57-31, grabbing 25 offensive boards while giving up only eight. The Flying Queens suffered a season-worst 22 turnovers.
Led by Cooper's 8-of-8 effort, the NAIA's top free-throw shooting team wound up right at its season-average of 81 percent (21-of-26).
Kendriana Washington led four LSU-Alexandria players in double-figures with 19.
The contest was the last of a 10-game season-opening stretch that saw Wayland take on eight ranked or previously-ranked teams.
Wayland's next outing is an exhibition Dec. 28 in Abilene against NCAA DIII's Hardin-Simmons (7-3), which has dropped two straight after the Cowgirls won seven of their first eight. After that, the Flying Queens restart Sooner Athletic Conference action with a pair of road games against Southwestern Assemblies of God Jan. 2 and Texas Wesleyan Jan. 4.
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