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BILLINGS, Mont. – William Jessup (Calif.) proved no contest for Wayland Baptist in Thursday's opening round of the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament as the seventh-ranked Flying Queens rolled to an 83-38 victory.
"I'm proud of the girls. They executed really well on both sides of the floor," Wayland coach
Alesha Ellis said. "Our energy and effort were there, which is huge for us."
The lopsided win advances the Flying Queens (29-5) to a second-round match at 5:30 p.m. CDT Friday at Rim Rock Arena against a more familiar opponent, 12
th-ranked Our Lady of the Lake University (26-6), which advanced with an 89-84 win over Loyola, La.
The Flying Queens and OLLU, which won the Red River Athletic Conference Tournament, met in what was Wayland's second game of the season at a tournament in Oklahoma City on Nov. 16. The Queens opened a 20-point second-quarter lead before OLLU pulled to within eight late in the third. Wayland then scored the first 13 points of the fourth period and went on to win 101-77.
Seven Flying Queens scored in double-figures in that game, led by Deborah Van Dijk with 20.
Kambrey Blakey,
Payton Brown and
Kaylee Edgemon all posted double-doubles.
"We beat them before, but we can't go into tomorrow under-estimating them. They are a lot better now," Ellis said. "They are very well-coached, athletic and fast."
OLLU leads the NAIA in scoring at 91.7 points per game and ranks fourth in 3-point shooting at 8.7 bombs a contest. In their national tournament opener against Loyola (26-7), the Saints pulled down 21 offensive rebounds and hit 31-of-35 free throws. Guard Lena Wilson scored 23 points to lead four Saints in double-figures. Wilson had 15 against Wayland back in November.
Loyola lost despite hitting 16-of-32 3-pointers, in part because OLLU forced 21 turnovers.
"We have to go in with the right mind-set and control the pace of the game. We have to take care of the ball. That will be a major key," Ellis said.
Wayland, seeded second in its quadrant, certainly took care of the ball in its tournament opener, committing only three turnovers as the Flying Queens had an easy go of things in its first-round game against tournament newcomer William Jessup (20-11), the sixth-place team in the Golden State Athletic Conference.
After the Flying Queens jumped out to an 11-4 lead, the Warriors hit back-to-back buckets to close to within two. Wayland then scored eight straight points, including a 3-pointer apiece by
Kelea Pool and Edgemon, and the rout was on.
The Flying Queens opened the second quarter on a 19-2 run to open a 25-point, 38-13 lead with 4:00 left before halftime. Wayland didn't score again before intermission, but William Jessup put in just one field goal and the Queens were in control at the break, up by 22.
Wayland extended its lead to 38 points after three, and its largest lead was 45.
The Flying Queens hit 11-of-27 3-pointers (41 percent), with six players connecting.
Blakey led all scorers with 17 points, followed by Edgemon with 15 and
Maci Merket and VanDijk with 12 apiece. Edgemon, who scored 10 in the first quarter, put in three 3s while VanDijk went 6-of-9 from the field. Merket, WBU's lone senior, hauled in a team-best 12 rebounds and dished out five assists as she logged her eighth double-double of the season. Freshman
Cailyn Breckel hauled in nine boards, and
Morgan Bennett produced six assists.
William Jessup, held to a season-low in scoring, had just one player with more than seven points, Lily Hagerty with 12. The Warriors shot just 25 percent (13-of-53) from the field including 3-of-15 from long range.
Wayland held a 52-35 rebounding edge, including 16-6 on the offensive end.
"Rebounding and defense are a huge key to our success. Those two things are 99 percent effort, and I felt our girls did a really nice job there today," Ellis said.
With the possibility of playing five games over the next six days, the coach said it was beneficial to be able to play everyone.
"It's really nice to be able to give your players as much rest as you can. I'm proud of all 11."
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