PLAINVIEW, TX - No. 5 Wayland Baptist (18-2, 10-1 SAC) took charge Thursday night and took down Texas Wesleyan (12-6, 7-4 SAC) 109-49. 

Nicole Gleason led the way with 14 points and six rebounds, with two blocks and a steal. Evie Whorley added 10 points and had the most efficient night from the floor - 3-of-5. Jordan Brightwell continued her steady play of late with nine points and six rebounds in 26 minutes.

The Flying Queens hit eight threes in the first half and took a 55-28 lead into the break. WBU's Morgan Bennett became the program's all-time career assist leader with 614, achieved with about six minutes to go in the second quarter, a record that had stood for 37 years. She finished the game with seven dish-outs. 

While their wasn't a major discrepancy in turnovers (TXWES 18, WBU 12) the Flying Queens found more ways to take advantage of the Ram mistakes, scoring 29 points off turnovers to Texas Wesleyan's five with a 26-6 edge in the fast break. Gleason did hit four from beyond the arc in the loss, her second most makes from deep in 2020. She's 11th in the NAIA, hitting an average of 2.9 per contest.

The Lady Rams will try to shake off the defeat Saturday in Goodwell, Oklahoma with a visit to Oklahoma Panhandle State, an Aggies team that is 0-11 in conference play this season and has lost to TXWES the previous three meetings, held to less than 60 points in all those defeats. After OPSU and a trip to Southwestern Christian February 6, Texas Wesleyan will be back at home with another difficult challenge - No. 1 Oklahoma City - as the Stars and Flying Queens continue their reign on the SAC into the new year.

With MACU's 83-75 victory over John Brown Thursday night, the Evangels move back into third place by a half game over TXWES.