FORT WORTH – Texas Wesleyan scored the last 12 points of the game as the 17
th-ranked, league-leading Lady Rams defeated Wayland Baptist in Sooner Athletic Conference play Thursday evening, 87-74.
Wayland (10-6, 6-4 SAC) trailed almost the entire game, including 40-34 at halftime. The Queens tied it at 56 late in the third quarter but again found themselves down six going into the final 10 minutes.
WBU kept it close and pulled to within one, 75-74, on a layup by
Marchelle Bowden with 4:14 to play. But those were the final points of the game for the Queens, who suffered three turnovers and missed four field goals down the stretch while the Lady Rams (15-1, 10-0) scored on six of their final seven possessions.
It was the 14
th straight win for Texas Wesleyan, which hit 18-of-21 free throws (86 percent), including 8-of-8 by Savanna Smith.
Wayland outrebounded the home team, 43-33, Shultz's career-best matching eight, but the Queens turned it over a season-high 23 times, compared to just three for TXWES.
Kaitlyn Edgemon paced the Queens in scoring with 24 points while
Jenna Cooper-Jackson logged her fifth double-double (in addition to one triple-double) of the season with 17 points and 11 assists.
Makayla Coy logged a double-double for the Lady Rams with 20 points and half as many rebounds. She was one of four in double-digit points for TXWES, whose bench outscored Wayland's, 41-4.
The Queens next head to Chickasha, Okla., to take on No. 19 Science & Arts of Oklahoma (15-1, 9-1), which defeated Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Thursday, 78-43. The Drovers have won four in a row since their only loss to TXWES, 80-56.
