Wayland Baptist went up by 35 points in the first half as the third-ranked Flying Queens rolled to a 78-34 victory over Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Tuesday night at Hutcherson Center.

“I thought our players came out with the right mentality and energy, which was missing at our last game,” Wayland coach Alesha Ellis said.

The unbeaten Flying Queens (6-0, 4-0 Sooner Athletic Conference) led 28-7 after the first quarter and outscored the Aggies (1-4, 1-4) 20-8 in the second to own a commanding 48-15 intermission advantage.

The scoring slowed considerably in the second half when Wayland held an 11-7 edge in the third period and a 19-12 advantage in the fourth.

“We have a good, talented group of players this year that makes them good, but the energy you saw tonight will make them great and a tough team to beat,” Ellis said. “We have to continue to find ways to keep that going.”

Freshman Kaitlyn Edgemon led the Flying Queens in both scoring with 14 and rebounding with eight. Jenna Cooper and Kaylee Edgemon added 11 points each, with Cooper adding seven boards and six assists.

Wayland shot 71 percent from the floor (10-of-14) in the first quarter, including 5-of-6 3-pointers, and ended the game shooting at a 44 percent clip (30-of-68) overall and 7-of-17 (41 percent) from long range. The Queens missed only one of 12 free throws (92 percent).

“I was proud of our bench players for getting in the game and adding to what our starters started,” Ellis said.

OPSU’s leading scorer was Naomi Rodriguez with nine points. The Aggies shot just 18 percent (10-of-55) from the field against Wayland’s stingy defense, including 1-of-13 in the third quarter.

Wayland held a 52-32 rebounding edge.

The Flying Queens, whose game against John Brown on Saturday was postponed due to COVID-19 issues, next are in action Jan. 28 at Central Christian College (2-6, 0-1) in McPherson, Kan.

BOX SCORE
source: wbuathletics.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *