DALLAS – Wayland Baptist rallied to tie from a 15-point deficit but could never take the lead, and the No. 11 Flying Queens were surprised by the University of North Texas-Dallas in the Sooner Athletic Conference opener at Trinity Basin Preparatory Athletic Complex here Thursday.
The Flying Queens (2-2), who fell behind when they were outscored 18-10 in the second quarter, fought their way back from a 44-29 deficit midway through the third, tying it at 54 and again at 56. But the unbeaten Trailblazers (3-0) scored seven straight points to lead 66-58 with under a minute to go. Wayland did its part on offense with a couple of buckets by
Kaitlyn Edgemon, but UNT-Dallas did as well, getting a fast-break lay-up then two icing free throws by Zyunn Cormier with 16 seconds left.
Cormier, a junior guard from Duncanville, led the home team with 32 points, hitting 10-of-20 field goals, including 5-of-11 3-pointers, as well as 7-of-7 free throws. Mykayla Dumas added 12 points.
UNT-Dallas hit 86 percent from the foul line (18-of-21), where Wayland was 12-of-18.
Edgemon led the Queens in scoring with 14 points, followed by
Jenna Cooper-Jackson's 13 to go with 12 rebounds and five assists. Sophomore
Taryn Shultz added a career-high dozen points off the bench, hitting a personal-best four of WBU's six 3s (6-of-24).
Maria Ghaleb ended with nine points and six boards.
Wayland committed 17 turnovers for the third straight game.
The Queens are next in action at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Waxahachie at Southwestern Assemblies of God (2-3, 1-0), which knocked off Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Thursday, 75-39.
Coach Cooper Comments:
"Anyone on the road is going to be a battle. We learned that the hard way. UNTD is a solid team and will beat a lot of people at home this year.
"Lots of early foul trouble forced us deep into our bench early. Kaitlyn and Taylor were in foul trouble early in the third and missed most of that quarter.
"
Taryn Shultz had a career night. She really brought the fire. Her and Kynnan came off the bench and gave great energy and helped us fight back and take a late lead. We just couldn't seal the deal.
"Jenna played tough but couldn't get very many open looks. We have to have a solid performance where Jenna, Kaitlyn and Ashlyn give us about 60 points with scoring and assists combined. We just didn't get that tonight. When all three of those are struggling, our team struggles.
"We played hard and our younger players will get where we need them to be. It's disappointing but it is a long season and there are lots of lessons to learn and grow from tonight."
