Cooper-Jackson logs triple-double in season debut

Jenna Cooper-Jackson's name may have changed, but the quality of her play certainly didn't.

Jackson-Cooper, who got married over the summer, recorded a season-opening triple-double of 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and Kaitlyn Edgemon added 22 points to lead the 10^th-ranked Wayland Baptist Flying Queens to a 91-51 victory over University of the Southwest (N.M.) on Thursday evening at Hutcherson Center.

"Tonight was a great way to start the year. We had a few struggles early but were able to overcome that adversity and started having pretty good execution on both ends of the floor," WBU second-year coach Jason Cooper said.

Before the Queens tipped off the 2022-23 season, last season's team members were presented rings commemorating their Sooner Athletic Conference championship. After that, it took the team a bit to get going once things tipped off, but once they did the game had the makings of a blowout by halftime.

Southwest, winners of just five games last season, led almost the entire first quarter, although Cassie Onwugbufor's two free throws with two seconds left in the period gave Wayland a 17-15 lead.

Edgemon and Jackson opened the second stanza with back-to-back 3-pointers, then an old-fashioned 3-point play by Jackson and later another bomb by Jackson capped a quarter-opening 17-2 run. That gave Wayland twice as many points as the Lady Mustangs, 34-17, and the outcome was all but in the books.

WBU led it 46-26 at the half and increased the margin to 28 by the end of the third, 67-39. It was a 27-point difference midway through the fourth, but the Queens ended the game on a 15-2 run for the final 40-point margin.

"I thought our defense was really good tonight," Cooper said. "Getting defensive stops is something we've really focused on in our early practices. So many times last year we just had to outscore our opponents. My hope is that we can add some lockdown defense to our repertoire this season."

The coach started his compliments with Jackson and Edgemon. "Jenna had a great game. Opening the season with a triple-double (she also had an 11-11-11 triple-double last season) is pretty special. She sees the floor so well and understands what we are trying to do so well. It is like having a coach on the floor.

"Kaitlyn played solid as usual. Twenty-two points and some big-time blocks really put pressure on the other team."

Cooper added: "I thought we had such great bench contribution tonight. I've said over and over that we have depth this year and that showed tonight. Thirty-one points off the bench is huge."

Newcomer Taylor Houston also reached double-figures in her collegiate debut with 10 points, and the 6-2 freshman from Idalou showed some spunk when she mixed it up with Southwest's Sierra Smith early in the contest. "Taylor had an excellent start to her Flying Queens career," Cooper said. "She had a solid all-around game and really took the other team's best player (Smith ended with four points) mentally out of the game. She has an edge to her game and I was excited to see that fight in her. She was not a little intimidated freshman kid out there."

The Flying Queens next hit the road for their next two games, against Hardin-Simmons in Abilene on Tuesday then an exhibition against the University of Texas in Austin on Nov. 4. Their next home games come during the Queens Classic Nov. 11 and 12 against Our Lady of the Lake and LSU-Alexandria.