WAXAHACHIE –
Kaylee Edgemon scored 19 points,
Morgan Bennett 14 and
Kelea Pool 13 to lead No. 6 Wayland Baptist to a 74-55 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God University in the Sheaffer Center on Thursday night.
"They went out-of-character on me in the first half, but played a lot better in the second half," WBU coach
Alesha Ellis said of her team. "We got some looks in transition that helped us win the game."
Wayland (9-2, 2-1 SAC), playing its first conference game since Nov. 23, trailed early, but after taking a 9-8 lead never trailed again. The Flying Queens scored 28 fourth-quarter points to put it away.
"SAGU is tough because they can get hot and go on runs, so we had to watch out for those. Once they get hot, it's tough," Ellis said. "I felt our team did a good job of fighting off those runs."
The win avenged a 67-62 loss in Waxahachie in the 2018-19 regular-season finale that cost Wayland a share of the SAC title. That was the Flying Queens' first-ever loss to SAGU. Wayland is now 15-1 against the Lady Lions.
Edgemon, who scored 10 of her 19 in the final 10 minutes, ended three points shy of her season-high accomplished in the season-opener.
WBU hauled in as many rebounds – 55 – as SAGU (6-4, 1-2) had points, helping the Queens overcome an average shooting performance.
The coach praised Bennett for her defense on SAGU all-American Lexi Rich, who went into the game averaging 19 points a game but was limited to six in each half.
"I was also real proud of Kelea. She came in and shot the ball well, and Jenna was a rebounding machine. Breck got on the boards pretty well."
Next for the Flying Queens, who have won six straight, is a 2 p.m. game Saturday in Fort Worth against Texas Wesleyan (9-2, 3-0), one of three teams tied atop the league standings. The Lady Rams defeated Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Thursday, 82-58. Wesleyan also owns conference road wins over SAGU, 76-66, and John Brown, 53-50.
Ellis said the Lady Rams are similar to SAGU in that both teams are guard-oriented.
"In the past these teams have been totally opposite, but they're a lot alike this year. (Texas Wesleyan's) top three or four scorers are guards. We'll have pretty much the same game plan as we did tonight: take care of business on the defensive end and get the ball out in transition and see if we can get some easy layups."
