ABILENE – Wayland Baptist went on the road for the first time this season and came up short against Hardin-Simmons at the Mabee Complex here Tuesday, 83-76.
"HSU is an older and mature team. I give them all the credit in the world. They played a great game," WBU coach
Jason Cooper said. He added, "We were not good enough on defense, offense or rebounding. We were just not very good overall."
The Cowgirls, who return four of five starters from last season's 21-5 team, are picked to again win the NCAA Division III American Southwest Conference.
Wayland (1-1), which won its season-opener over University of the Southwest (N.M.) last Thursday, 91-51, trailed most of the game. WBU was down 18-11 after the first period and 39-31 at the half. The Queens managed to tie it up in the third and briefly took the lead in the fourth, but the Cowgirls regained control and were able to seal the victory.
"Kaitlyn (Edgemon) getting into foul trouble, and missing Ashlyn (Shelley) (out with an injury) made for a bad combination," Cooper said. "There were some good things that happened, but it's very hard to feel good about anything when you lose one like that."
Newcomer
Maria Ghaleb led Wayland with 15 points, backed by 12 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds by
Jenna Cooper-Jackson. Edgemon,
Taryn Shultz and
Kaitlyn Edgemon added nine points apiece.
"Maria stepped up and played well. She really tried to take the team on her shoulders, but in the end we just could not get stops," Coach Cooper said.
HSU was led by Paris Kiser, who scored 26, and Hallie Edmonson, who added 14. The Cowgirls hit 23-of-28 free throws (82 percent), getting 11 more points at the stripe than Wayland (12-of-16). HSU made twice as many 3-pointers as the Queens, 8-of-24 vs. 4-of-14. The Cowgirls turned it over 22 times compared to 16 for WBU.
The game was considered an exhibition for HSU, so it won't count on the Cowgirls' record. It was the first-ever loss to HSU for the Flying Queens, who won the previous nine meetings, most recently in 2019.
Next for Wayland is an exhibition game against the University of Texas starting at 7 p.m. Friday in Austin. Although this outcome won't count for either team, the Flying Queens and Lady Longhorns officially have met 22 times, with UT holding a 16-6 edge, winning most recently in 202, 99-49.
