Box Score Oklahoma City-- The Texas Wesleyan women's basketball team (25-6) lost in the SAC title game 85-71 against Wayland Baptist (31-3) on Tuesday evening at the Gaulke Center.

TXWES started the game off with a two straight made jump-shots by Kertisa Amos to take an early 4-2 lead in the first quarter. After 7 minutes of play, WBU gained a 16-12 lead. QuinNae Love scored a basket with 41 seconds left in the first quarter to give TXWES 14 points. Heading into the second quarter, WBU led 20-14.

The Lady Rams started the second quarter off on a 6-0 run with back-to-back three-pointers by Mary Nyakundi and QuinNae Love to tie the game at 20. Zarria Carter made a contested layup to to cut the deficit to 5 points with 4:23 left in the first half. WBU made timely baskets down the stretch of the second quarter to take a 41-32 lead at the halftime break.

TXWES battled back at the start of the third quarter with a 10-3 run to make the score 44 to 42 after a made jump-shot by Kertisa Amos with 7:52 left in the quarter. Na'Teiona Cole buried a jump-shot with 5:49 left in the third to tie the game at 48. Both teams continuously fought in an even matchup down the stretch of the third quarter. With just one quarter left to play, the Flying Queens led TXWES 67-64 in a tightly contested championship game.

Zarria Carter attacked the rim for an easy two points to give the Lady Rams a 59-58 lead with 7:50 left in the game. The Flying Queens responded with a 17-7 run in a three minute span to take a 75-65 lead with 4:18 left in the game. TXWES fought hard until the end, but fell short as Wayland Baptist captured their fourth consecutive SAC title. 

Junior Kertisa Amos scored a team high of 24 points on 9 of 18 shooting from the field. Junior Makayla Coy scored 17 points and recorded nine rebounds. Freshman Zarria Carter scored 12 points and snagged nine rebounds. 

TXWES had the number one scoring defense at the tournament, giving up 56.5 points per game. The Lady Rams also averaged 51 rebounds per game which was third among teams competing in the tournament. Kertisa Amos and Zarria Carter were both selected to the All-SAC  tournament team.

TXWES will find out who they play in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament on March. 3 when the selection show releases the bracket. The Lady Rams will compete in its first NAIA National Tournament since 2011. The opening round of the tournament will take place on March 11 and March 12.

SAC ALL-Tournament Team

 Kertisa Amos, Texas Wesleyan; Milagros Carrera, Science & Arts; Zarria Carter, Texas Wesleyan; Kaylee Edgemon, Wayland Baptist; Lexi Hernandez, Mid-America Christian.
MVP: Jenna Cooper, Wayland Baptist.