CANYON – A trio of ACU underclassmen led the Wildcats to their second straight win on Tuesday, a 74-67 win over traditional NCAA Division II powerhouse Emporia State (Kan.) at the West Texas Golf Cars WT Christmas Classic at the First United Bank Center.
The win pushes the Wildcats to 6-2 on the season, while the Lady Hornets fall to 4-4. ACU will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 29, against St. Edward's in Austin.
Freshman guard
Whitney West and sophomore forward
Sadie Dickinson each scored 14 points to lead the Wildcats, while freshman forward
Kynzie Newman added nine points for the Wildcats, who played the second half without senior center
Kelsey Smith who was out with an injury.
The game was tied 62-62 with 4:16 to play before the Wildcats ended the contest on a 12-5 run to pull away for the win.
Savannah Smith gave the Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish when she buried a 3-pointer with 4:05 left to make it a 65-62 game. At the 2:44 mark, Dickinson hit a pair of free throws before Smith hit a layup 45 seconds later to make it a 69-65 ACU lead.
Renata Marquez converted a layup with 1:26 to play to make it 71-66, and then West (1 of 2) and Newman (2 of 2) scored ACU's final three points from the free throw line in the final 33 seconds.
ACU was out-rebounded 50-41, but outscored Emporia State 32-26 in the point and only committed nine turnovers to 14 for the Lady Hornets.
ACU hit 26 of 65 shots from the field, including 9 of 21 from 3-point range. West was 5 of 6 from the field, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range as she scored a career-high 14 points.
Aside from Dickinson, West and Newman, Marquez scored 12 points and
Mackenzie Lankford added eight points and two steals in just 16 minutes. Smith had seven points and three rebounds in eight first-half minutes.
With its move to NCAA Division I affiliation and the Southland Conference coming next season, the Wildcats' game Tuesday was likely their last in Canyon at the First United Bank Center. If so, the Wildcats won their final five games at the home of the West Texas A&M Lady Buffs: two games in last year's Christmas Classic, a win over WT earlier this season and the two wins in this year's Christmas Classic.
