ABILENE – Shelby Adamson scored 11 of her career-high 29 points in the final 7:40 of the contest Tuesday night as Tarleton State knocked off ACU, 75-65, in the Lone Star Conference South Division women's basketball opener for both teams at Moody Coliseum.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 3-10 overall and 0-1 in the LSC South, while Tarleton improves to 11-2 and 1-0. ACU will be back in action Saturday in Wichita Falls when the Wildcats take on Midwestern State at 5 p.m.
Tarleton's win over the Wildcats snaps ACU's 20-game LSC South Division winning streak inside Moody Coliseum. The last time the Wildcats lost to a division opponent on their home floor was Jan. 27, 2007, when Texas A&M-Kingsville knocked off ACU, 77-54.
ACU was in position to pull off the upset with a little less than eight minutes to play after a pair of
Renata Marquez free throws pushed her team's lead to 53-50.
That's when Adamson and Tara Towns took over for the TexAnns. Adamson hit a layup with 7:40 to play before Towns hit a layup at the 7:16 mark to give the TexAnns a 54-53 lead.
After
Sarah Reno's two free throws gave the Wildcats a 55-54 lead, Tara Towns drilled a 3-pointer with 6:44 left in the game to give the Texans a 57-55 lead, an advantage the TexAnns wouldn't lose the rest of the night.
After the 3-pointer, Adamson hit two free throws and then a 3-pointer before hitting two more free throws and another jumper. By the time she had finished scoring, Tarleton led by the score of 67-59 with 2:29 to play. Towns then put the game away with a 3-pointer at the 1:36 mark to put her team in front 70-60.
ACU freshman Mack Lankford led the Wildcats with 16 points (14 in the first half), while Marquez had 14 points and nine rebounds. Senior
Autumn Whitaker had 10 points and five rebounds.
