ACU, Lions set to hook up
3/3/2009 9:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. ? The ACU Wildcats and Texas A&M-Commerce Lady Lions staged one of of the more entertaining games of the 2008-09 Lone Star Conference women's basketball season, and Wednesday night they'll get a second chance at each other as they open play in the LSC Post-Season Tournament with a quarterfinal matchup at Bruin Fieldhouse.
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When: Wednesday, March 4 |
The game is set for a 6 p.m. start as the Wildcats (the No. 2 seed from the LSC South) take on the Lady Lions (the No. 3 seed from the LSC North) in the first round of the tournament for the second straight season. ACU won last year's matchup, 88-82, behind 33 points and 13 rebounds from Audrey Maxwell-Lively.
Wednesday night's game can be heard locally on KYYW 1470 AM. Fans can also follow every game of the tournament -- including all of ACU's games -- by going to the LSC Post-Season Tournament home page. There fans will find links to live stats, as well as free audio and video broadcasts of every game of the tournament.
Earlier this season in Abilene, the Wildcats took a 104-95 victory over Commerce, despite a then-LSC single-game record 53-point effort by Britney Jordan. The Lady Lions' senior was 21 of 39 from the field (0 for 7 from 3-point range) and 11 of 14 from the free throw line as she set a career-best scoring mark. Her LSC scoring mark was eclipsed two nights later when Texas Woman's center Renee Renz scorched the Wildcats for 63 points in ACU's 147-143 quadruple-overtime victory over the Pioneers.
Jordan, though, still enters Wednesday's game as the leading scorer in five NCAA divisions (women's Division I, II and III, men's Division I and II) at 31.0 points per game. Only Grinnell's John Grotberg in men's Division III can match her average.
In the win over Commerce, the Wildcats countered Jordan's brilliance with strong play from their frontcourt as Maxwell-Lively recorded a dominating double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds, while Jamie Meyer had 22 points and five rebounds. Jody Meyer came off the bench to record a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds. ACU's three frontcourt players combined for 70 points and 29 rebounds in the contest, while point guard Kat Kundmueller dished out 10 assists, scored eight points and hauled down six rebounds.
“That was a great offensive game, and we expect that kind of effort from Commerce again (Wednesday),” ACU head coach Shawna Lavender said. “Britney Jordan is as good an offensive player as I've coached against in this league, and trying to find a way to even just slow her down a little bit is a big challenge. But I like the way we've been playing the last 10-14 days, and I'm confident in my team.”
ACU should enter the conference tournament with a ton of confidence after last Saturday's 64-55 win over West Texas A&M, which entered the game at ACU's Moody Coliseum as the No. 1-ranked team in the NCAA Division II South Central Region and the 14th-ranked team in the country. ACU fell behind by nine points midway through the second half, but stormed back with a 28-10 run to close the game and pick up a win over the Lady Buffs for the second straight season in Abilene.
The Wildcats' current three-game winning streak has pushed their record to 18-9 on the season, and they are ranked No. 8 in the latest NCAA Division II South Central Region poll. The top eight teams in Sunday's final poll will be invited to the regional tournament, which could be played in Canyon (West Texas A&M), San Antonio (St. Mary's) or Edmond, Okla. (Central Oklahoma).
Despite a strong closing month, Lavender's team was left out of last year's tournament, and they don't want to leave their fate this season in the hands of the NCAA selection committee.
“We don't ever want to be in a position like last year's where we left in the hands of the committee,” Lavender said. “I don't want to hear again from other people, ?Well, I think you're in the (regional) tournament, no matter what happens.' This team wants to take matters into their own hands and earn that automatic bid, and the way they've played down the stretch they believe they can do it.”
Maxwell-Lively has been the key down the stretch as ACU went from teetering on the brink of watching their season go down the drain to earning the No. 2 seed and entering the tournament as a darkhorse to win the whole thing. After a disappointing loss at Tarleton State on Feb. 18, Maxwell-Lively posted double-doubles in two of the W ildcats' final two games of the season: 18 points and 13 rebounds in an 85-70 win at Eastern New Mexico on Feb. 25, and the 16-point, 10-rebound effort against the Lady Buffs last Saturday.
But she hasn't done it alone as Jamie Meyer has averaged 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds in the stretch to go along with Jody Meyer's 10.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Kelsey Darby has averaged 9.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game and Kat Kundmueller has dished out almost 7.0 assists per game in that stretch. And while the Wildcats have averaged 70.0 points per game in that three-game stretch, they've only allowed 55.0 points per game in the run.
