Bigger, more athletic and deeper. Those are three key areas where Wayland Baptist women's basketball coach
Jason Cooper feels his Flying Queens have improved over last season. As a result, Cooper believes the 2022-23 Flying Queens have a chance to be even better than they were last year.
"My vision was to make this year's team bigger, more athletic and deeper than we were a year ago. I believe we have done that," Cooper said on the eve of his sophomore season with the Flying Queens.
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Coach Cooper Interview with Midwest Sports Net
Cooper's first campaign as Queens coach went rather well. The team went 33-4 – the program's most wins in more than 40 years – won both the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships for the third straight year, and advanced to the NAIA National Tournament round of 16 sporting a No. 8 national ranking.
Wayland is picked to again win the SAC, garnering nine first-place votes along with one second and one fifth from league coaches. Texas Wesleyan, which the Queens defeated in the SAC Tourney title game, 85-71, is picked second and earned one first-place vote, as did Mid-America Christian and Science & Arts of Oklahoma. Those four teams qualified for the NAIA National Tournament last season, but only Wayland made it past the opening round.
The Queens also figure to be ranked high in the NAIA Preseason Top 25, despite graduation last spring claiming a couple of key weapons in point-guard
Angel Hayden and two-time SAC Player of the Year and four-time NAIA All-American
Kaylee Edgemon. They'll certainly be missed, especially Hayden's defensive and rebounding prowess (she averaged a team-best 8.0 boards per game) and Edgemon's team-leading 19.6 points per game.
But in addition to the Queens returning two-time all-American Jenna Cooper (now Cooper-Jackson after marrying WBU baseballer Ty Jackson), all-conference third-teamer
Kaitlyn Edgemon and 30-game starter
Ashlyn Shelley, plus emerging players
Canton Moreno,
Taryn Shultz and
Emily Sigala, the Queens added nine newcomers – a mix of first-year freshmen and transfers.
"The goal through the recruiting process was to add depth and experience to our solid six returning players. We did that with the addition of two very talented high school players as well as some solid JUCO players," Cooper said. "I am excited about our overall size with eight girls standing 5-11 to 6-3 and all being mobile and able to fit our style of play. We have added depth at all five spots, but most importantly the 4 and 5 positions."
The leader of the Queens will be Coach Cooper's daughter, Jenna, a fourth-year starting forward from Claude who was NAIA 2
nd Team All-American a year ago when she led the NAIA in total assists (207) and averaged 18.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. "Jenna has had her best summer of preparation that I have seen. She is driven and focused on her final season of collegiate hoops. I look for her to have a great year," Coach Cooper said.
Another dominant scoring and rebounding threat is
Kaitlyn Edgemon, entering her third year at Wayland and first without sister Kaylee also on the roster. The Littlefield native averaged 16.1 points and 7.7 rebounds last season plus led the SAC in blocks (1.3). Shelley, a guard from Idalou, will be playing her fourth season at Wayland, having started the previous two. Shelley was good for 5.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists an outing last season.
"Kaitlyn and Ashlyn have been instrumental components in the three previous seasons of Flying Queen basketball," Coach Cooper said. "Those two and Jenna have an incredible depth of experience to bring to our team. All will be at least third-year starters while this will be Jenna's fourth as a starter."
Moreno, a junior from Amarillo, joined the Queens last season and was the team's sixth player, averaging 4.9 points while shooting 36 percent from 3-point range. "Canton was a huge spark off the bench and can defend as well as shoot the 3," Cooper said.
Highlighting the Queens' nine newcomers are junior
Manuella Donmeza, sophomores
Marchelle Bowden and Cassandra Onwugbufor, and freshman
Taylor Houston.
A 5-foot-11 junior from Cameroon, Africa, Donmeza transferred from Frank Phillips Junior College where she averaged 5 points and 5 rebounds. Cooper called her "a very athletic guard/forward who can really score in transition. She's a tough perimeter defender and can get to the rack."
Like Shelley, Houston hails from Idalou where last season the 6-foot-1 forward/post earned district MVP and all-state honors while leading her team to the state tournament averaging 15 points and 8 rebounds. "Taylor is an athletic, hard-nosed player with a knack for getting the ball," Cooper said.
The 5-11 Bowden, a power forward from Milwaukee, arrives from Odessa College and gives the Queens "another athletic player who is tough and strong. She battles hard for rebounds and finishes strong around the basket."
Onwugbufor figures to step in for Hayden at point-guard. A 5-7 transfer from Maize, Kan., she averaged 10 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists at Pratt Community College (Kan.). "Cassandra brings a ton of JUCO experience at the point and wing positions. She has excellent ball handling and distributing skills," Cooper said.
Other newcomers for the Queens are sophomores
Maria Ghaleb of Lebanon (Western Texas College),
Maddye Sumners of O'Donnell (Hardin-Simmons) and
Kynnan Shields of Shamrock (Seward County CC), and freshmen
Megan Nestor of St. Lucia and
Hadlee Gomez of Wellington. At 6-3, Nestor is the tallest player on the roster.
WBU opens the season Oct. 27 at home against University of the Southwest (N.M.). Then, after a road game at Hardin-Simmons, the Queens take on the University of Texas in an exhibition game in Austin on Nov. 4.
They'll once again host the Queens Classic Nov. 11 and 12, meeting Our Lady of the Lake and LSU-Alexandria, prior to opening conference play Nov. 17 at University of North Texas at Dallas.
The SAC Tournament, after quarterfinal games on campus sites Feb. 23, will finish up at Mid-America Christian University in Oklahoma City Feb. 27 and 28. The NAIA Championship Opening Round happens March 7 and 8 at host sites throughout the country, and the NAIA Championship Tournament takes place March 13-18 at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
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| 2022-23 SAC Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll |
| No. |
Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
Pts. |
| 1. |
Wayland Baptist |
9 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
116 |
| 2. |
Texas Wesleyan |
1 |
3 |
7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
104 |
| 3. |
Mid-America Christian |
1 |
5 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
103 |
| 4. |
Science & Arts |
1 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
97 |
| 5. |
John Brown |
|
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
83 |
| 6. |
Langston |
|
|
|
|
6 |
3 |
1 |
|
1 |
|
|
68 |
| 7. |
Oklahoma City |
|
|
|
|
|
5 |
4 |
|
2 |
|
|
56 |
| 8. |
Southwestern Christian |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
3 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
|
47 |
| 9. |
SW Assemblies of God |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
|
45 |
| 10. |
North Texas Dallas |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
35 |
| 11. |
Panhandle State |
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
2 |
8 |
|
27 |
| 12. |
Central Christian |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11 |
11 |
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