source: wbuathletics.com
photo: Claudia Lusk
It’s on to Iowa for the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens!
The eighth-ranked Flying Queens extended their season with a trip to the NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship Final Site thanks to a second impressive performance in as many days, this time taking out Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) on Saturday evening in Hutcherson Center in the championship of the Opening Round, 99-85.
Fueled by a dominating third quarter, Wayland (33-3) led the 19th-ranked Warriors (28-5) by as many as 35 points before a late comeback by the visitors made it appear closer than it really was. The Flying Queens now await their next opponent – 10th-ranked Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (28-4), which defeated Reinhardt (Ga.), 63-44, and 24th-ranked Dakota State (S.D.), 89-73, in an Opening Round in Billings, Mont. – this coming Thursday in the round of 16 in Sioux City, Iowa. Tip-off is at 8 p.m.
A win over Rocky Mountain would send Wayland to the quarterfinals at 3 p.m. Saturday to face either third-ranked Thomas More (Ky.) or ninth-ranked Bryan (Tenn.). The top four seeds in the Duer Quadrant are still alive: No. 1 Thomas More (28-4), No. 2 Rocky Mountain (28-4), No. 3 Wayland (33-3) and No. 4 Bryan (32-1).
If Wayland continues to win, the Queens’ semfinal would be at 8 p.m. Monday with the championship at 7 p.m. Tuesday live on ESPN3.
A night after posting a double-double in Wayland’s 89-68 semifinal victory over Our Lady of the Lake University, tournament MVP Kaylee Edgemon led the way with 26 points, while all-tournament Flying Queens Jenna Cooper, with 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and Kaitlyn Edgemon, with 16 points and nine boards, were outstanding as well. So, too, were Angel Hayden (10 rebounds, eight assists, six points), Ashlyn Shelley (11 points) and Taryn Shultz (11 points).
“Determined and unselfish is how I would describe this team,” Wayland coach Jason Cooper said. “Every game we have someone step up big for our team, and no matter who it is the rest of the team jumps on board with them and we roll.”
Wayland led 23-15 after the first quarter and 48-34 at halftime. The Queens then opened the second half with a 17-2 run, getting two 3s from Cooper and another from Allison Giles as WBU assumed a 65-36 lead.
The Queens took their largest lead, 35 points, when Shultz drilled one of her three 3s early in the fourth. Lewis-Clark St. then pushed all in, employing a go-for-broke game plan that featured high-pressure defense, lots of shots and 5-for-5 substitutions. The strategy managed to make the score much closer, but it was already so out of hand the Warriors really didn’t have much hope.
LCS cut it to 11, but by then only 45 seconds remained.
“Twenty-nine assists (a season-high) in the biggest game of the year… I’m so proud of the way these ladies are working together on and off the court,” Coach Cooper said.
After shooting a season-high 56 percent from 3-point range Friday, Wayland shot a season-best 61 percent (40-of-66) from the field Saturday. Boosting that was a 12-of-17 showing by Kaylee and an 8-of-14 ledger by Kaitlyn Edgemon. Shelley was 4-of-4, Shultz 4-of-6.
Cooper was 6-of-12 and hit three 3s; three more will tie the program record of 77 set by Maci Merket during the 2017-18 season.
The Warriors jacked up 42 3-pointers, hitting 12 of them (29 percent). Thanks in large part to their 17 offensive rebounds, LCS ended with 20 more shots than Wayland (31-of-86 vs. 40-of-66). The Warriors, who were 11-of-11 from the free-throw line, were led by all-tournament pick Callie Stevens with 22 points.
With two national tournament wins, the Queens are enjoying their best post-season since advancing to the semifinals in 2018.
“Our work isn’t done, but we sure feel good about where we are,” Coach Cooper said.