Plainview, Texas –
Linda Brice scored 28 points, including the game-winner at the buzzer to propel the Wayland Baptist women's basketball team to a thrilling 78-76 victory over Mid-America Christian Thursday evening to open Sooner Athletic Conference action.
The Queens opened the game by scoring eight of the first 10 points to grab an early 8-2 advantage and stretched the lead to 28-15 as Brice and
Peyton North each drilled three-point shots to end the quarter.
Wayland pushed the lead out to 18 with four minutes remaining in the second quarter as
Kinga Stachowska buried a triple to make the score 44-26. The Evangels shut down the Queens offense over the final four minutes as Wayland carried a 44-28 lead into the halftime locker room.
Mid-America Christian started their rally with 3:26 left in the third quarter as they outscored the Queens 13-7 over the final span of the quarter as Wayland took a 64-57 lead into the final stanza.
The Evangels then opened up the fourth quarter with an 11-1 run to get within three of the Queens at 68-65 with 6:46 left in the quarter. Wayland then pushed the lead back out to nine as
Emily Sigala,
Marchelle Bowden, and Brice all scored in the paint to make the score 74-65. Mid-America Christian then once again put together another big run to even the game at 74-74 with 2:38 remaining.
Taylor Houston briefly broke the tie with a pair of free throws before the Evangels scored on a jumper to make the score 76-76. Brice ended the game after
Maria Ghaleb grabbed a rebound off a missed shot and found Brice on a breakaway to score at the buzzer for the win.
"
Linda Brice was unbelievable in that game," stated Queen's head coach
Jason Cooper. "Not only did she dominate the scoring, but she made huge play after huge play for us. Sigala is tough as nails. She is small in satire but huge in heart and impact on the game and
Taylor Houston's plays a big game for us inside. It was some of her best basketball."
Brice added three steals to her 28 points while Houston added 12 points and seven boards and Ghaleb finished the night with a team-high eight rebounds as the Queens improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in SAC action.
The Queens return to action at home Saturday at 2 p.m. against Southwestern Christian.
