Box score
ABILENE – Lubbock Christian outscored ACU 15-6 during a key stretch of the second half Thursday night as the Lady Chaparrals knocked off the Wildcats, 80-73, in a women's college basketball exhibition game at Moody Coliseum.
The game counted as a regular-season game for the Lady Chaps of the NAIA, and they are now 2-1 on the season. ACU has lost both of its exhibition games in the pre-season and begins the regular season next Thursday in Laredo against Texas A&M International.
The Wildcats trailed throughout much of Thursday night's contest and went into the halftime locker room trailing 38-33. The Lady Chaps immediately pushed the lead to 45-36 early in the second half, eventually grabbing as much as a 53-41 lead with 13:57 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Kelsey Hoppel.
But ACU responded with a 9-2 run that cut the Lady Chaps' lead to 55-50 with 10:30 to play.
Kelsey Smith got the run started with a three-point play, followed by a pair of
Renata Marquez free throws. Mack Lankford drained a jumper with 11:11 left to make it 55-48 before Smith ended the ACU run with a layup.
But the Lady Chaps immediately answered with the game-changing 15-6 run. April Ehlers got it all started with a 3-pointer at the 10:14 mark of the second half to make it 58-50. Brittany Roberts added a jumper and Emily Atkins had a jumper to make it 62-50 with 9:14 to play.
Nicole Hampton had a layup, Kelsey Canavan a jumper in the paint, Kelsey Hoppel and Canavan a layup to make it 70-56 with 5:06 to play. ACU got as close as six points (70-73) with nine seconds to play, but never got any closer the rest of the way.
Smith led the way for the Wildcats with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Marquez had 15 points. Freshman
Paige Parliament had 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench for ACU.
