Big afternoon on tap at the Hutch

Wayland Baptist will look to extend its winning streak to seven straight when the Flying Queens wrap up the regular-season by hosting No. 17 Texas Wesleyan in the Oklahoma Ford Dealers Sooner Athletic Conference Game of the Week.

Tip-off at Hutcherson Center is at 2 p.m. It's Senior Day and Homecoming at Wayland, in addition to the grand opening of the Flying Queens Museum on Saturday morning, so there will be lots going on around campus.

Texas Wesleyan (24-3, 19-2 SAC) locked down the SAC regular-season-championship Friday in Goodwell, Okla., when the Lady Rams defeated Oklahoma-Panhandle State, 97-57. The game was pushed back from Thursday due to inclement weather. It is the the first conference championship for the Lady Rams since 1989-90 when Texas Wesleyan captured the Heart of Texas Conference title.

Wayland Baptist (17-9, 13-7 SAC), which knocked off No. 18 Science & Arts of Oklahoma on Thursday, 73-71, on Jenna Cooper-Jackson's buzzer-beater, are vying to finish among the conference's top four teams, which host the SAC Tournament quarterfinals Thursday. 

The chase for the final host spot in the first round of the SAC Tournament comes down to today's regular-season finales. While the Flying Queens are hosting Texas Wesleyan, John Brown is at 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 instead of hosting would be if Wayland loses to TXWES 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.

Cooper-Jackson, a senior from Claude, posts 18.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists a contest and ranks among the NAIA leaders in assists. Kaitlyn Edgemon, a sophomore from Littlefield, averages 18.5 points and 7.3 boards.

Kertisa Amos, a senior from Burleson, Texas, paces Texas Wesleyan with 16.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.76 steals per game this season. Brenita Jackson collected coach of the week as awarded by whoopdirt.com after her squad reached 100 points in two conference wins.  

The men's contest between Texas Wesleyan and Wayland Baptist follows the women's game at approximately 3:45 p.m. Saturday.  

The Pioneers (20-7, 15-6) are second in the league standings behind regular-season champion, fifth-ranked Langston (25-2, 19-2). WBU can secure the No. 2 seed by beating sixth-place Texas Wesleyan (13-13, 10-10), which defeated the Pioneers on Jan. 12 in Fort Worth, 95-90.

Texas Wesleyan held off Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Friday in Goodwell, Okla., 96-92, in a game that was delayed from Thursday due to inclement weather.

WBU also secures the No. 2 seed, regardless of the outcome in its game against TXWES, if Langston defeats third-place Southwestern Assemblies of God (19-8, 14-7) on Saturday.