ABILENE – Fans of the Abilene Christian women's basketball team will get their first look at the 2011-12 Wildcats Thursday at Moody Coliseum when they play host to the St. Mary's Rattlers at 5:30 p.m.
ACU begins the week with a 1-1 record, which includes a season-opening 96-87 victory at Texas A&M-International on Nov. 17 and a 77-67 loss at Texas-Permian Basin on Nov. 22. The Wildcats did not compete over the Thanksgiving weekend, however, St. Mary's (1-7) played twice at the Roberts Ditching Thanksgiving Classic hosted by West Texas A&M, first beating Angelo State before falling to the Lady Buffs.
The Rattlers are currently 1-4 against Lone Star Conference teams this season, and following their game vs. ACU, they'll play host to the Rambelles on Dec. 3.
St. Mary's is shooting 40 percent from the field, led by Jackie Edwards' 13.8 points per game and Morgan Pullins with 9.6. Pullins also is among the Rattlers' leading rebounders with a 6.3 average and has collected 31 boards off the offensive glass.
Where the Rattlers have struggled the most, however, is at the free-throw line, as they've connected on less than 60 percent (.594) of their chances (82-138). Their opponents have made 70 percent (137-197) by comparison.
As for the Wildcats, they are the conference's No. 1 free-throw shooting team with a 78.6 percentage (55-70), and are also tops from behind the 3-point arc at 41.7 percent (10-24). Overall, ACU possesses the conference's third-highest scoring offense with 81.5 points per game behind only Midwestern State (84.2) and Saturday's opponent Texas Woman's University (83.8).
Sophomore and the conference's defending offensive player of the week Mack Lankford leads the conference with 30.0 points per game, and her 33-point performance last week vs. the Falcons was the second highest of her career.
Junior center
Kelsey Smith also is among the league's leaders in rebounds with 8.0 per game.
The Wildcats begin their conference season on the road vs. the Pioneers Saturday at 2 p.m., and all fans that bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate to the “Toys for Tots” program will receive free admission. Collection boxes for the toys will be located in the main lobby of Pioneer Hall, near the west doors of Kitty Magee Arena.
All of the toys collected at these games will be distributed by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves as Christmas gifts to needy children in the Denton area and North Texas community.
In starting their year 4-0, the Pioneers have four players scoring in double figures led by Jessica Hanna with 21.3 points per game. TWU also is shooting higher than 50 percent from the floor, 30 percent from 3-point range and 75 percent from the charity stripe.
Defensively, the Pioneers have posted a +5.8 rebounding margin, while averaging 9.8 steals and 3.0 blocks. Hanna also serves as the team's leading rebounder with 9.8 per game despite playing guard and standing 5-feet-9 inches.
Information from TWUAthletics.com was used in this release.
