FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University women's basketball team (15-10, 7-7 SAC) managed the most points in Sooner Athletic Conference play in two years and got head coach
Bill Franey his 100th victory at Wesleyan - an 83-58 win over the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (10-12, 8-6 SAC) on homecoming, Saturday.
Katelynn Threats led all scorers with 20 points and grabbed 17 rebounds – two off of a season high. Threats also contributed four steals. The Lady Rams outscored USAO in every quarter, pulling away in the third frame and turning a 35-25 early second half advantage into a 60-37 rout.
USAO trailed 43-31 in the third when Wesleyan started getting serious contributions from a variety of players.
Ashlie Bruner hit a three and
Nicole Gleason followed with two of her own.
Lasheena Trice popped off the bench with a bucket and
Ashley Washington drained a three in between Broadnax and Threats buckets in the paint allowing the Lady Rams to run away with it.
Nicole Gleason caught fire in the second half, hitting four threes total and also had a steal and behind-the-back save that turned in to a lay-up for her at the other end for a 72-46 advantage. She finished with 14 points, her third-straight game in double figures off the bench.
Dierra Ely, USAO's leading scorer (15.8 PPG) picked up three quick fouls in the first quarter and sat the rest of the half. She made just 1-of-6 shots from the floor, gathering just seven points in the Drovers' defeat.
Ashlie Bruner knocked down three from beyond the arc and paced the starting guard unit with 16 points. The starting backcourt (Bruner,
Lorian Benjamin,
Falesha Fuller) contributed 30 of the team's 83 points, 21 of them coming in the first half to keep the defense from harassing Broadnax and Threats inside.
Bailey Broadnax led the team in assists with seven, a season high, to go with her 10 points and five boards.
Wesleyan moves to 7-7 in conference play, just a half game behind Mid-America Christian for fifth place and sweeps the season series with USAO.
The Lady Rams continue a three-game home stand against Saint Gregory's on Thursday (6 p.m.) before Wayland Baptist comes to Fort Worth next Saturday's home finale (1 p.m.)
Ramblings
- The last time Wesleyan scored at least 70 points in conference was one year ago to the day – 2/11/16 – when the team scored 73 points against John Brown.
- Wesleyan hit 8-of-16 three pointers, only bested by the 8-of-13 performance against Crowley's Ridge when the Lady Rams scored a season-high 104 points. The team hasn't hit eight threes in a conference game since March 4, 2015 against St. Gregory's (94 points).
- Threats has a double-double in five of her last seven outings, after starting the season with a double-double in five of her first six contests.
