Former Wayland Baptist Flying Queen and WBU Athletics Hall of Honor member Margaret Raye (Wilson) Ayers passed away on May 19, 2020. Raye was 86.
Raye, along with her twin sister Faye, played on the first three teams that initiated the Flying Queens' 131-game winning streak in the 1950s. The win streak remains the longest in college basketball history for any women's or men's program at any level. They also helped the Flying Queens win the first three of the program's 10 AAU national titles.
Raye, a defensive-minded guard who hailed from Duncanville, was named an AAU All-American her senior season at Wayland in 1956. The runner-up at the national tournament's beauty pageant, Raye was described as a great hustler who was "…always stealing the ball. Good on rebounds."
Both Raye and Faye earned Bachelor of Science degrees in education and worked in the airline industry. The sisters were inducted into the
WBU Athletics Hall of Honor in 2007.
Raye was preceded in death by her husband, Leland Rex Ayers, and her son, Shawn Wilson Ayers.
Survivors include her twin sister, Faye Wilson Gould, her older sister, Anne Wilson Yeager, and her son, Samuel Rex Ayers; along with daughters-in-law, Claudia and Missy; grandchildren, Grant, Ashley, Hudson and Logan; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and friends.
Raye was laid to rest in a private graveside ceremony in Dallas.
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