Cooper-Jackson's buzzer-beater sinks No. 18 USAO

Jenna Cooper-Jackson's buzzer-beater sent Wayland Baptist to a vitally-important 73-71 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over No. 18 University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma on Thursday evening at Hutcherson Center, keeping the Flying Queens' hopes alive for a home post-season game.

Wayland (18-9, 14-7 SAC) extended its season-best winning streak to six games while moving ahead of John Brown (19-8, 13-8) for the coveted No. 4 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. The Golden Eagles fell to Mid-America Christian (23-4, 17-4) on Thursday, 72-59.

"I am so proud of our grittiness these past few weeks. Six in a row is pretty remarkable in this gauntlet of a conference," WBU coach Jason Cooper said.

The chase for the final host spot in the first round of the SAC Tournament comes down to Saturday's regular-season finales, which see Wayland hosting 17^th-ranked, league champion Texas Wesleyan (23-3, 18-2) and John Brown going to sixth-place Southwestern Christian (14-12, 12-9). A number of scenarios are possible, most ending with Wayland earning the No. 4 seed.

The only way the Queens would not be No. 4 and have to travel to Arkansas to play JBU in the tourney quarterfinals would be if Wayland loses to TXWES (whose game at Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Thursday was delayed to Friday afternoon due to inclement weather) and JBU beats SCU. In the first half of SAC play, WBU lost to TXWES, 87-74, while JBU fell to SCU, 75-71. If those results repeat Saturday, WBU is the No. 4 seed, SCU No. 5 and JBU No. 6.

On Thursday, the Queens avenged a 72-65 loss to USAO in Chickasha, Okla., on Jan. 14. It came down to the wire.
Wayland led by 17 points with 6½ minutes left in the third quarter, but the Drovers mounted an impressive comeback.
 
"Looking at the clock with about five minutes to go and having two starters fouled out was enough to make anyone doubt our ability to hang on and win that one," Coach Cooper said.  

USAO pulled to within one with just under five minutes left in the game, but Wayland's Marchelle Bowden, Kaitlyn Edgemon and Cooper-Jackson combined to hit eight straight free throws and extend the lead back out to nine. It was an 8-point margin when USAO's Diaka Berete and Tonijah Fortune drilled back-to-back 3-pointers, the last with 33 seconds to play to close the gap to 70-68.

The clock wound down to 11 seconds when Edgemon, who led all scorers with 26 points, went to the free-throw line for two. She missed the first but made the second before the teams traded timeouts. That allowed the Drovers to in-bound the ball in the frontcourt, and it took just three seconds for Berete to hit her team's third-straight 3, tying it with eight seconds to play. 

Wayland called its final timeout and set up the final play, which started with Cooper-Jackson standing in front of the Queens' bench.

"Jenna told me as she stood there to throw the ball in after our final timeout, 'Dad, we can't go to overtime here. We need to win this now.' I said, 'Probably so.' I also thought, 'Well, that's a pretty good and calm statement from someone about to be in the pressure cooker."

The coach's daughter handled the pressure just fine.

Cooper-Jackson inbounded to Bowden, who tossed it right back to Cooper-Jackson, who hesitated and looked to pass. When she couldn't find a teammate, she dribbled to the top of the key. When a path opened, Cooper-Jackson broke down the right side of the lane, past two defenders and – with a Drover in her face – floated a shot from about 10 feet away. It fell through right before the final horn, and the Queens began a celebration.

""I know Jenna has heard me say a thousand times, 'In these moments you just trust your training, execute and live with the result," Coach Cooper said. "It was a big-time shot, no doubt, and the team executed well to make it happen. We ran the play nearly perfectly and had our top two scorers in position to take the last shot."

Cooper-Jackson ended with 20 points, six behind Edgemon and a dozen more than any other teammate. USAO – which outshot Wayland from the 3-point arc (9-of-17, 53 percent, compared to 7-of-22, 32 percent) and from the free-throw line (16-of-19, 84 percent, compared to 16-of-26, 62 percent) – was led by Berete with 22 points. The Drovers also held a 38-27 rebounding edge but had six more turnovers.

"I am proud of the Queens for their fight," Coach Cooper said. "We talked about what the word 'fight' means before the game. John Wooden said, 'It was a determined effort to do the very best we can do.' I would not say we played the best we could have played but I'd say we stepped up and gave a very determined effort.

"And what amazing execution at the end of the game."