Saint Lucia’s emerging star basketballer, Megan Nestor had another strong game on Thursday evening as the Wayland Baptist University Flying Queens held on to defeat RV Langtston 78-71. Newly ranked 13th in the NAIA, the unbeaten Flying Queens played out a nail-biter to begin Sooner Athletic Conference play on a high note.
2023-24 NAIA All-American Nestor, who is from Canaries, had a team-high 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds, making 6-10 field goals on a day when her team made only 39% of their chances. She was also perfect from the line at 4-4, and added a team-high five steals.
The Lions opened up an 11-4 lead midway through the opening quarter, and although Nestor and the Queens began to chip away, Langston pushed their advantage to 24-15 at the end of the first quarter.
Junior Teodora Popovic and senior Emily Sigala kept the deficit in single digits, and freshman Brooklyn Hurtado got free throws just before halftime. At the break, however, the Lions were still up by two, 40-38.
Nestor began to take over in the third period. The 6-4 forward scored the Queens’ first seven points to give them a 43-42 lead. The Queens pulled away to lead by nine, 62-51 heading into the final quarter of play.
Langston trimmed the Flying Queens lead to just 65-63 with over five minutes left in regulation, then tied it up at 65-65. The Queens converted nine of their 12 free throws in the final two minutes to hold on for the win.
Head Coach Jason Cooper talked about his team’s performance saying, “It came down to grit. We just dug in and out-gritted them in the end.” Coach Cooper continued, “I was proud of the fight we showed to come back like we did. I thought we did a great job adjusting to the way the game was being played. We took advantage of Langston’s aggressive defense and got to the free throw line and that was ultimately the key factor.”
Photo Credit: WBU
