The Wayland Baptist Flying Queens and Lubbock Christian Lady Chaps traveled east on Interstate 40 to Bethany, Okla. today [Wednesday] so that they can play each other in the opening game of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday morning at 9 a.m.

The 17-12 Queens are the sixth seed in the tourney, finishing the conference season with a 12-10 record, while the Lady Chaps are 18-10 overall and wrapped up the SAC's third seed with a 13-9 SAC mark.

All of the Queens' tournament games can be heard on Wayland radio station KWLD 91.5 or on the internet with Tom Hall calling the action.

The WBU women received a vote in Tuesday's final NAIA Coaches Poll, but that probably isn't enough to earn an at-large bid to the NAIA Women's Championship Tournament. That means the Queens must win the conference tourney to assure themselves of an automatic bid. LCU, on the other hand, was ranked 23rd in the final poll and is almost certainly assured of an invitation.

Both teams ended the regular season in somewhat of a slump, losing three of their final four games. Two of those losses by the Queens came in overtime, one at John Brown, the other at home against #6 Oklahoma City. LCU fell by two at JBU, but was blown out in the final game of the regular season by the Stars, 84-62. The lone win by both teams came at the expense of Mid-America Christian, with WBU winning 78-53, and the Lady Chaps getting a 79-52 victory.

In their two meetings against each other this season, both back in November, the Queens jumped out to ten-point halftime leads. In the game in Plainview, the Lady Chaps stormed back to take a 79-71 victory, while Wayland held on for a one-point win in Lubbock, 70-69. Those games were played before the season-ending knee injury suffered by Flying Queens senior Edite Kresa. Kresa, a shooting guard, scored 15 in the loss and put in a game-high 21 in the win.

Stepping up in Kresa's absence, particularly of late, is 5-11 forward Erika Raymond. The sophomore from Plainview, who earned SAC Player of the Week recognition last week, averaged over 24 points, six rebounds and three assists while shooting 56.5 percent from the three-point line in the final three games of the regular season.

Senior point guard Jessica Walker has also stepped up her game. Since Kresa went down in January, Walker is averaging 11.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. The Bryan, Tex. native is the conference leader in steals and is second in assists. She is also among the NAIA leaders in both categories.

Shamon Doss, the Queens' 5-11 senior post, is averaging 11.1 points and 8.1 rebounds a game this season. She is the leading shooter on the team, hitting 50 percent of her shots from the field. Doss had a team-high 18 points in the loss in Lubbock.

Lubbock Christian is led by sophomore guard Brittany Hampton who is averaging 11.3 points and 3.4 assists. The Canyon High graduate is third in the NAIA in free throw shooting, hitting 87.5 percent of her shots from the line. Another area product, sophomore forward Severyn Smith, who averages just over nine points a game, is second in NAIA free throws at 89 percent. As a team, the Lady Chaps are #4, making good on 76.8 percent of their attempts from the charity stripe.

Hampton was 10-of-11 from the line in the first meeting with the Queens and had a game-high 22 points. She and Smith had 16 points each to lead LCU in the loss at Hutcherson Center.

The winner of Thursday morning's game will take on the winner of the game between #2 seed Oklahoma City and the #7 seed Southern Nazarene University at 3 p.m. on Friday. The championship game is slated for 4 p.m. on Saturday.