Gallery: (1-27-2022) Women's Basketball vs. Central Christian
The Sooner Athletic Conference-leading Wayland Baptist Flying Queens went into halftime of Thursday's game against cellar-dweller Central Christian College (Kan.) searching for answers. They found them…largely in the forms of
Kaitlyn Edgemon and
Jessica Medcalf.
Edgemon turned in a triple-double with 25 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, while Medcalf brought Hutcherson Center to life with back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, spurring the No. 12 Flying Queens to an 86-49 victory over the Lady Tigers.
The Flying Queens (21-3, 13-2 SAC), after a lopsided 110-61 win over Central Christian on Dec. 4, led the winless-in-conference Lady Tigers (1-21, 0-15) by just five, 32-27, at halftime. But WBU got things figured out in the second half, outscoring the visitors from Kansas 25-5 in the third period en route to another decisive win.
"What an amazing showing by
Kaitlyn Edgemon. She kept our heads above water in the first half and then continued contributing in every aspect of the game on both ends of the floor," Wayland coach
Jason Cooper said. "What a performance. She is barely scratching the surface of her potential."
After going two seasons without one, the Flying Queens have witnessed two triple-doubles in the past 11 games.
Jenna Cooper posted an 11-point, 11-rebound, 11-assist triple-double on Dec. 7 against Oklahoma-Panhandle State.
Besides Kaitlyn, a second-year freshman who also logged three steals, sister
Kaylee Edgemon and Cooper ended in double-figure scoring with 19 and 17 points, respectively, and seven rebounds apiece.
Ashlyn Shelley and
Taryn Shultz also ended with seven boards apiece as the Queens almost doubled the Lady Tigers in the rebounding department, 51-26.
With WBU up 57-32 after their dominating third quarter, Medcalf kept the Flying Queens on point when she drilled three 3-pointers on consecutive possessions in about a 90-second span midway through the fourth. Medcalf, a junior lefty, got a steal and went for a fourth trey, but couldn't get it to fall.
Coach Cooper said it was a good to see the Flying Queens get behind Medcalf during her hot streak.
"Going into the game where we were honoring our two leading scorers (Kaitlyn for recently reaching 1,500 points and Jenna for surpassing 1,000), we talked about celebrating your teammates' success and realizing that their success is all of our success," the coach said. "I saw this love of their teammates' success in the pre-game ceremony, but it was on full display during the action tonight. When Jesse got hot, everyone on the team was into the moment with her. It was so great to see the excitement our team had for her fire. I didn't have to call a play during that run. It was 'get it to Jesse.'"
Wayland hit just 2-of-19 3-pointers in the first three periods but, with Medcalf leading the way, got hot in the fourth and made 6-of-8 bombs in the final 10 minutes.
Wayland matched a season-low with six turnovers.
Central Christian had just one player in double figures, Destiny Broussard with 13.
The Flying Queens are back in action at 2 p.m. Saturday at home against Langston (15-6, 10-5), which defeated Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Thursday, 77-65. WBU defeated the Lions in the first half of league play in Oklahoma, 86-73.
