Plainview, TX | December 4, 2025 — The first Sooner Athletic Conference road test of the season turned into a full-fledged West Texas nail-biter, and the Nelson University Lady Lions showed they were built for every ounce of it. In a back-and-forth battle inside Hutcherson Center, Nelson erased a halftime deficit, matched Wayland Baptist punch-for-punch, and sealed a dramatic 91–90 victory behind poise, toughness, and a cold-blooded game-winner in the final seconds. 

Returning to her home region, Abby Boyce played like she owned the zip code. The forward was a matchup nightmare all evening bulldozing the paint for buckets, securing tough rebounds in traffic, and threading sharp passes whenever the Flying Queens collapsed. Boyce finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, but her impact stretched far beyond the stat sheet. She stabilized Nelson in the second quarter when shots stopped falling and the game's physicality spiked.

Before the dust even settled on the opening tip, Kate Miller was already cooking. Miller opened the game 7-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from deep, dropping 19 points in just 19 minutes of action. Her early shot-making kept Nelson on a blistering scoring pace, pushing the Lady Lions to a 24–23 edge after the first quarter.

Wayland Baptist surged back in the second frame, grinding the tempo down and taking a 37–35 halftime lead, forcing Nelson to regroup in the locker room. 

Out of halftime, Nelson's veterans took over.

• Ashley Gonzalez logged 11 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals dictating the pace and shredding coverages.

• Cailyn Tucker delivered one of the most efficient nights of her career, finishing with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting and a perfect 6-for-6 at the line, while also tying Gonzalez for the team lead with 7 assists.

• Nelson shot a scorching 60% in the third quarter, swinging the game into a 61–63 dogfight heading into the fourth. 

The fourth quarter turned into an offensive sprint. Wayland shot 64.3%, Nelson countered with 46.7%, and every possession felt like the one that might decide it. The Flying Queens splashed threes late, but the Lady Lions counterpunched with physical paint touches, timely free throws, and bench sparks (28 bench points on the night).

With seconds shrinking and the scoreboard reading 90–89 Wayland, Nelson turned to Tucker calm, poised, and unfazed by the moment. She attacked downhill, absorbed contact, and kissed in the game-winning bucket that silenced the home crowd and elevated Nelson to 7–1 overall and 3–1 in SAC play. 

Nelson won the toughness categories all night:

• Points off turnovers: 20–6

• Second-chance points: 18–14

• Rebounds: 39 total

• Free throws: 22-for-27 (81.5%)

Every possession mattered, and every Lion who stepped on the floor gave Nelson what it needed to survive West Texas.

Next Up
The Lady Lions continue their conference road swing on Saturday, December 6, traveling north to Goodwell, Oklahoma to face Oklahoma Panhandle State University in another pivotal SAC matchup.

Nelson University (formerly SA GU) is a private Christian university, established in 1927 by P.C. Nelson. The University is located 30 minutes south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Waxahachie, Texas, and offers more than 70 associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees on campus or online. For more information, visit www.nelson.edu or by calling 1-888-YES-NELSON.