HOUSTON – ACU fell behind by 13 points at halftime and couldn't overcome that deficit as the Wildcats lost to Houston Baptist, 75-67, Friday night in a women's college basketball exhibition game at Sharp Gym.
The Wildcats will play another exhibition game next Thursday (Nov. 10) at 5:30 p.m. against Lubbock Christian at Moody Coliseum before opening the season on Thursday, Nov. 17, against Texas A&M International in Laredo.
ACU – which didn't shoot a free throw until 15 minutes were left in the game – outscored the Huskies 45-40 in the second half, but it wasn't enough to erase a 35-22 halftime deficit.
"The first half was ugly, but we played decent basketball in the second half," ACU head coach Shawna Lavender said. "We were much more aggressive on the defensive end and did a better job of taking care of the basketball in the second half. We were pretty timid and fumbled the ball around quite a bit in the first half.
"But in the second half we did a much better job of pushing the ball and getting easy shots," Lavender said. "We have to do a better job on the boards (16 offensive rebounds for HBU), and that's mainly what let them control the first half. I was proud of the way we executed defensively down the stretch. We were able to hit some shots and extend the game, so that was good to be able to work on."
Sophomore Mack Lankford led the Wildcats with 19 points, while freshman
Sadie Dickinson had 11 points and
Cecilee Perez had 10 points for the Wildcats.
