Following one of the Flying Queens’ top scoring performances in years, Wayland Baptist’s Jenna Cooper has been named Sooner Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the second time in a month.
A junior forward from Claude, Cooper poured in a career-high 37 points to power No. 9 Wayland Baptist to an 89-71 victory over Southwestern Assemblies of God University. Cooper, who logged 15 points in the first period alone, ended with seven 3-pointers (7-of-13) and was 14-of-23 from the field (61 percent) and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line as she surpassed her previous scoring best of 25 earlier this season against LSU-Alexandria. The junior forward also recorded nine rebounds and six assists. It marked the fourth time this season Cooper was one rebound or assist shy of a double-double; she has one triple-double.
The 35 points were the most by a Flying Queen since Jade Jones scored 46 points – just three short of matching the program record – during a 100-72 win over John Brown University on Jan. 7, 2017.
Earlier in the week in a 91-77 road win over the University of North Texas-Dallas, Cooper scored 13 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists.
Between the two wins, Cooper averaged 25.0 points per game while knocking down 45 percent of her shot attempts, including 42.1 percent from the three-point arc, and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line. Cooper also averaged 8.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists.
It’s the second time this season and fourth time in her career Cooper has been named SAC Player of the Week.
Cooper leads the SAC and ranks second in the NAIA in total assists with 110 while her 6.1 per game average is the fourth-best nationally. Sheld holds the third-best scoring average in the league at 18.8 ppg.
Cooper now has 974 career points, leaving her 26 shy of becoming the 52nd player in Queens history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. With another strong effort she could get it Tuesday when the Flying Queens host Oklahoma-Panhandle State at 6 p.m. in Hutcherson Center.