Before showdown with OCU, Flying Queens earn fans free fries at the buzzer!

Back on their home court after three road wins, the sixth-ranked Wayland Baptist Flying Queens secured their 17^th Sooner Athletic Conference victory Thursday night over Southwestern Christian, 99-49, to set up a championship showdown on Saturday with Oklahoma City.
 
Wayland (23-4, 17-2 SAC) – which posted a season-matching high 113 points when the teams met last month in Bethany – outscored the Eagles, 26-10, in the first quarter and 26-13 in the second to end the first half with a 29-point lead, 52-23.
 
The Queens came out of halftime at a little slower pace, matching SCU in scoring with 15 points in the third quarter. However, they made up for it by outscoring the Eagles in the fourth, 32-11.  A layup from Morgan Bennett – who posted a 12-assist, 11-rebound double-double – allowed the Queens their largest lead, 51 points at 96-45, with 3:17 remaining in the fourth quarter.
 
About the only real drama in the blowout was whether the Flying Queens would hit a 10^th 3-pointer and earn free McDonald's French fries for fans. No. 10 came when Margaret Gaydon sank a crowd-pleasing bomb at the buzzer, drawing the loudest cheer of the game from the student section.
 
The Flying Queens wound up one point shy of what would have been their program-record ninth triple-digit scoring game.
 
Wayland's defense kept SCU to 17-of-70 field goal shooting (24 percent) and 3-of-17 (18 percent) from behind the arch.
 
Four Flying Queens scored in double digits, led by sophomore Kaylee Edgemon with a career-high 27 points. Edgemon, who on Saturday recorded her previous career-best of 23 against Bacone, finished 12-of-17 from the field and made 2-of-3 treys.
 
Behind Edgemon was freshman Cailyn Breckel, who came off the bench and had 17 points – one short of her best – along with eight rebounds. Following Breckel was Maci Merket with 16, while Kambrey Blakey added 11.
 
Behind Bennett's career-high 11, the Queens out-rebounded the Eagles, 64-34, plus recorded 28 assists, fueled by Bennett's career-high matching 12. It's the third time in the junior's career she's handed out a dozen helpers.
 
One of Wayland coach Alesha Ellis' goals for her team is to keep their turnovers below 10, which they accomplished with nine.  The Eagles gave it away 10 times and were credited with only seven assists.
 
The Queens played in support of leukemia patient Jayvian Lawson, a freshman basketball player at Plainview High School where Merket conducted her student-teaching.
 
Next up is a showdown against 10^th-ranked Oklahoma City at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Hutch. The Stars (25-2, 18-1) lead the Flying Queens by a game in the conference standings, where Southwestern Assemblies of God and USAO are a distant third place.
 
Wayland, which defeated OCU on the road last month, 70-63, needs to win Saturday to pull even with the Stars, who collected an 88-42 road win over Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Thursday. The Flying Queens wind up the regular-season with road games next week against Texas Wesleyan and SAGU, while OCU finishes up at home against USAO and at Mid-America Christian, teams against which the Flying Queens split.