Langston, Okla. - In a high-stakes Sooner Athletic Conference game, the 12
th ranked Flying Queens fell just short to
RV Langston, with a final score of 69-60.
The top two teams in the SAC opened tonight's highly anticipated contest by trading buckets for the entirety of the opening quarter. With just over one minute remaining in the opening frame, Flying Queen graduate student
Kaitlyn Jerden continued her rise up the Flying Queens All-Time Scoring rankings as she scored her second bucket of the quarter – giving her 1,500 career points and putting her 13
th All-Time in scoring in Flying Queens history.
The Lions began the second quarter by knocking down their first two three-point attempts to take an 18-13 lead over the Queens, but Jerden and
Peyton North scored back-to-back buckets to get the Queens back to within one point. Unfortunately for the Queens, Langston rattled off an 11-2 run over the next four minutes of game clock to extend their lead to 31-21 with just over two minutes until the halftime break.
The Queens battled back to get within five points after
Linda Brice knocked down two free throws followed by an
Emily Sigala three-pointer, but the Lions answered with a jumper at the buzzer to take a 33-26 lead into the intermission.
Despite getting two buckets from Brice and North to open the third quarter, the Queens couldn't get back to within seven points as the Lions drilled another three-pointer to push their lead to 38-28. After Langston took an 11-point lead with just over six minutes left in the third, the Queens offense woke up. It started with a tough and-one from
Megan Nestor followed by North draining a three to make it 42-37, LU.
However, the Queens had a rough close to the third quarter and allowed Langston to push their lead back up to 12-points – carrying a 51-39 lead into the final quarter.
Jerden and Nestor converted the first two buckets of the fourth quarter for the Queens to trim their deficit back into single digits, but Langston kept answering back and never allowed the Queens to make it a one-possession game. Brice scored two more points with just over two minutes remaining in regulation to put the Queens within six, 59-53.
The Queens just couldn't cut their deficit any lower than six points the rest of the way and fell just short to
RV Langston, 69-60.
Head Coach
Jason Cooper highlighted the game's challenges and the team's spirited comeback post-halftime, albeit acknowledging a slow start. "We just did not start off the game well. It is a tough environment to play in, and I don't think we handled it that well in the first half. The second half was a completely different story. Bottom line you have to have a better start," Cooper remarked.
Kaitlyn Jerden led the scoring for the Flying Queens with 19 points, followed closely by
Megan Nestor with 18 points and remarkable rebounding efforts marked at 18 rebounds.
Now standing at 15-2 overall with a 12-2 record in the SAC, the Flying Queens look ahead to their next challenge against Central Christian in McPherson, Kansas on January 18, 2025, as they seek to rebound from this setback.
