Box Score
ABILENE – Three Wildcats – led by sophomore Mack Lankford's 17 points – scored in double figures, lifting Abilene Christian to a 64-58 win over Saint Mary's Thursday night at Moody Coliseum.
Junior
Kelsey Smith finished with 13 points, and sophomore
Hillari Adam poured in 10 with eight rebounds to improve the Wildcats early-season record to 2-1.
The Rattlers fell to 1-8 overall, and are 1-5 against the Lone Star Conference this season.
Although both clubs shot 34 percent from the floor, ACU took advantage of its three-dozen trips to the foul line by connecting 28 times for a 75 percent success rate. From there, Lankford and Smith each scored seven points, Adam made 5-of-6, and junior
Emily Miller was a perfect 4-for-4.
By comparison, the Rattlers went 15-of-21 from the charity stripe led by DeAnna Patterson's 7-for-7 effort. Patterson led all players with 20 points, and her two free throws at the 2:03 mark of the second half brought the Rattlers back within four points at 60-56, after ACU had led by as many as 16 points.
But over the final 1:40, St. Mary's committed two costly turnovers that immediately followed a defensive rebound. First Patterson coughed it up under the basket, which led to a Lankford basket that again put ACU ahead by six, and then Morgan Pullins lost control of the ball with 46 seconds remaining.
Felicia Jacobs fouled at Lankford midcourt on the ensuing Wildcat possession, which led to two more free throws that iced the game. Liz Boyd missed her layup on the Rattlers' final turn with 11 seconds left, which
Renata Marquez secured before dribbling out the clock.
Marquez finished the game with eight boards, tying Adam and
Paige Parliament for the team lead as ACU outrebounded the Rattlers, 43-35, including 28-19 on the defensive glass.
ACU entered the break up 33-24 thanks to eight points and seven rebounds from Adam along with six points from Smith. Then to start the second half, the Wildcats went on a 9-2 run with all but two points coming from the foul line.
The Wildcats return to action Saturday, Dec. 3 at Texas Woman's for their conference season opener. The game tips off at 2 p.m. 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.
