ABILENE – Incarnate Word outscored ACU 24-4 over the first eight minutes of the second half Tuesday night as the Cardinals whipped the Wildcats, 68-58, in a Lone Star Conference women's basketball game at Moody Coliseum.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 6-6 overall and 1-5 in the LSC, while the Cardinals improve to 8-5 and 3-4. ACU will be back in action Saturday in Kingsville as the Wildcats take on Texas A&M-Kingsville at 2 p.m.
ACU trailed just 39-34 at halftime, but missed 11 of its first 12 shots of the second and committed six turnovers as Incarnate Word pulled away. While ACU was going 1 for 12 from the field to start the second half, Incarnate Word hit 11 of its 16 shots in the same span, including making its first four shots of the half.
ACU's
Cecilee Perez hit a jumper at the 18:34 mark to cut UIW's lead to 44-38, but that would the Wildcats' last bucket for almost eight minutes.
Darrein Williams brok the scorin streak with a jumper at the 10:48 mark to cut the UIW lead to 63-40.
The Cardinals took their first 10-point lead at the 17:41 mark on a layup by Jocelyn Jarmon, making the score 48-38. The lead hit 20 points for the first time at 59-38 with 13:48 left on a jumper by Ifunanya Mora. The lead eventually grew to 25 points (63-38) with 11:52 left in the game on a layup by Rose Whitehead.
ACU would not get closer than 10 points the rest of the way as ACU fell into ninthe place in the LSC.
The Wildcats committed 21 turnovers in the game and shot just 40 percent from the field (22 of 55), including just 28.6 percent from 3-point range (2 of 7). ACU was led by
Kelsey Smith, had 19 points and six rebounds, while
Sarah Reno had 10 points and six rebounds.
