The Shallowater duo of
Cailyn Breckel and
Morgan Bennett combined for 40 points and 16 rebounds to lead sixth-ranked Wayland Baptist to a 92-78 victory over No. 21 Thomas More University, Ky., on Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center.
Playing their first home game in over a month and first since knocking off then No. 1 Freed-Hardeman, Tenn., on Nov. 30, Wayland (7-2) never trailed against the Saints, a first-year NAIA program which last season went 33-0 in winning its third NCAA Division III national title in the last five years.
The Flying Queens surged to an 18-5 lead and never looked back.
"That always helps," WBU coach
Alesha Ellis said of her team's fast start. "I think we were excited to be at home finally."
The closest Thomas More (7-2) came after Wayland's initial push was eight points early in the second period. After the Saints made it 30-22, the Flying Queens re-established themselves and were up 18 at the half, 43-25.
The Saints – who on Friday in Chickasha, Okla., defeated USAO, 68-63 – outscored Wayland in the third, 21-16, and cut it to 13 going into the fourth before pulling as close as 11, 83-72, with just over three minutes to play. But Thomas More suffered a turnover and a missed layup on its next two possessions as the Saints failed to cut it to single digits, allowing Wayland to coast to the finish, in large part at the free-throw line.
The teams combined for 65 fourth-quarter points. Wayland's 92 total points were by far the most scored against the Saints, who entered the game giving up an average of just 52 ppg.
The Flying Queens dominated the boards, outrebounding the Saints, 52-32, with six WBU players getting six or more rebounds.
"That was one of thing we really focused on, to rebound hard against them," Ellis said.
The dominance on the glass helped Wayland overcome 16 turnovers, two more than Thomas More, and a sub-par showing at the free throw line. The Flying Queens went into the game hitting 84 percent at the foul stripe to lead the NAIA, but settled for a 66 percent showing (21-of-32) Saturday.
Individually, Breckel ended with a career-high 21 points, three more than her previous best of 18 during her freshman season last year. The 5-foot-9 guard hit 7-of-8 field goals, including both of her 3-point tries, plus pulled down eight rebounds.
"I'm really proud of Cailyn's game," Ellis said. "She shot the ball well and had eight rebounds. It's nice to have someone step up like that."
Bennett, the reigning NAIA National Player of the Week, added 19 points and also had eight rebounds, in addition to six assists.
"Mo had a lot of great passes. She and Payton (Brown) played like they know how. I feel like we're going to need that from them every game."
Brown ended with a dozen points and five assists.
Kaylee Edgemon added 11 points and six rebounds,
Deborah VanDijk got 10 points, and
Jenna Cooper tied for team-high rebound honors with eight.
Kambrey Blakey and
Kelea Pool got seven rebounds each.
The Saints shot 40 percent (27-of-67) from the field, with a fourth-quarter that saw them put in 10-of-16 (63 percent) which made up for a 2-of-14 effort (14 percent) in the second period. Thomas More made 8-of-24 3s (33 percent), while Wayland went 11-of-32 from long range (34 percent).
"They have some good shooters, and we were really focused on guarding the 3," said Ellis, who singled out VanDijk's defensive effort on the Saints' Emily Schultz.
"(Schultz) is a player. We talked a lot about how to guard her. I felt like Deb did such a good job. That really helped us. She did such an amazing job."
It was the first-ever meeting between Wayland and the team from Crestview Hills, Ky.
Next for the Flying Queens is another non-conference opponent, LSU-Alexandria (4-3), a team ranked 23
rd in the preseason but which is now the equivalent of 32
nd. The Generals play Texas A&M-Texarkana and Wiley before facing the Flying Queens in the Hutch at 2 p.m. Dec. 19.
The game will mark the end to a 10-game season-opening stretch that saw Wayland face eight teams ranked or receiving votes in the Top 25.
Â
