LAREDO – Sophomore guard Mack Lankford and freshman post
Paige Parliament sparked a key 13-2 ACU run midway through the second half as the Wildcats pulled away from Texas A&M International to win their season-opener, 96-87, at the TAMI Kinesiology Center.
The loss drops the Dustdevils to 0-4 on the season, while the Wildcats improve to 1-0. ACU will return to action Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Odessa against Texas-Permian Basin. ACU's first home game will be Dec. 1 against St. Mary's.
ACU trailed 60-59 near the midway point of the second half before a pair of free throws from Parliament gave the Wildcats a 61-60 lead with 12:17 to play in the game.
Lankford stretched the lead to 64-60 with 11:42 left with a 3-pointer, and then added a jumper 30 seconds later to make it 66-60. Parliament then converted an old-fashioned three-point play on a jumper and free throw to make it 69-62 with 10:43 left in the game.
Lankford then came up with a steal and a fast-break layup with 10:29 to play to push the lead to 71-62 before she finished the run with a free throw to make it 72-62 with 9:32 left to play. ACU's lead never dropped below six points the rest of the way as the Wildcats cruised home with the win.
Lankford finished with a game-high 27 points on 8 of 15 shooting from the field (3 of 5 from 3-point range) and 8 of 11 from the free throw line. Sophomore forward
Renata Marquez had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 7 of 7 from the free throw line.
Parliament finished with 13 points off the bench, while point guard
Cecilee Perez had 11 points, six assists and six rebounds.
Kelsey Smith finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.
