Defense was the name of the game Saturday afternoon in Hutcherson Center as the No. 19 Wayland Baptist Flying Queens didn’t give Southwestern Assemblies of God a chance – at least after the first quarter – in a 68-38 Sooner Athletic Conference win.
SAGU (9-8, 2-6 SAC) led 19-13 after the first period, but Wayland (16-2, 7-1) allowed the Lions just 19 more points the rest of the way. The Flying Queens outscored SAGU in the fourth, 25-4, in rolling to its 20th consecutive home win.
The 38 points represent Wayland’s best defensive effort of the season by 11 and the best since a 73-35 win over SAGU late last season.
Wayland took a 27-26 lead on a bucket by Deborah VanDijk at the 3:47 mark of the second quarter. A 3-pointer by Shayla Monreal right before the halftime horn made it a four-point WBU lead.
It wasn’t really until the end of the third and early in the fourth that the Flying Queens started to really pull away. Wayland scored the final five points of the third and the first six of the fourth, and before the Lions knew it they were beaten by 30.
Wayland’s final three field goals were 3-pointers – two by Maci Merket and one by Kendrick Clark.
Three Flying Queens made it into double figures: the freshman VanDijk with 13, Merket with 11, and Shawna Monreal with 10. Starting freshman point-guard Morgan Bennett was the top rebounder with seven and also dished out a team-high four assists.
SAGU failed to get a player into double figures; three had nine points each.
Wayland held a 45-34 edge on the boards.
The Flying Queens’ next game will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, in Shawnee Okla., where they take on last-place St. Gregory’s (2-13, 0-8), a 98-43 loser to No. 23 John Brown on Saturday. Wayland plays its next four on the road before returning to the Hutch Feb. 9.
(Courtesy Wayland Baptist Athletics)
