ABILENE – Abilene Christian and Tarleton State bring their undefeated Lone Star Conference records into Wisdom Gym Saturday for a 5 p.m. contest, pitting two of the league's top scoring offenses against each other. The game will be broadcast locally on 1280-AM KSLI with
Grant Boone and Katie Tull providing play-by-play and analysis.
The Wildcats enter the weekend at 4-1 overall and 3-0 vs. the LSC as they followed an emotional 81-76 win at West Texas A&M with back-to-back blowout victories over Eastern New Mexico (74-56) and Texas A&M-Commerce (81-60).
“Our team needs to stay disciplined at all times regardless of the score,” said ACU head coach
Julie Goodenough during her postgame interview. “We have to continue to always do the little things right; block out, get rebounds, keep them off the free-throw line and get stops when we need them. Because in the next game our halftime lead may be three points, not 15.”
The TexAnns, meanwhile, began their conference slate with consecutive road wins at Texas Woman's (72-60) and Angelo State (71-61, OT) in improving to 4-2 (2-0 LSC). Tarleton's first loss came at the hands of Texas-Permian Basin, which edged the TexAnns in overtime, 89-72.
On the strength of their three-game winning streak, ACU finds itself squarely ranked among the national and conference leaders in several categories. Not only are the Wildcats ranked first in the LSC and 17th nationally in scoring offense at 80.2 points per game, but they also have the league's best field-goal percentage (.459) and are No. 1 with 16.6 assists per game and a +13.8 scoring margin.
Defensively, ACU is tied for first with Angelo State in averaging 29.6 defensive rebounds per game and is second with 4.0 blocks. And after the Zias missed 21 of 23 3-point attempts last Saturday, the Wildcats are now first in 3-point field-goal defense at .213.
Tarleton State, however, has a penchant for accurate long-range shooting and will counter ACU's perimeter defense with Peyton Adamson. The junior guard ranks first in the conference and fifth nationally with 3.8 3-pointers per game, and has made 22 of 49 attempts (.449) while averaging just over 16.0 points per game.
The TexAnns also have a scoring threat under the basket with junior center Kiara Wright averaging a double-double of 16.7 points and 16.7 rebounds per game. She also ranks among the national leaders with a .593 field-goal percentage.
The Wildcats have had a different leading scorer each of the last four games, but no player has been more consistent than sophomore forward
Sadie Dickinson, the defending LSC Offensive Player of the Week. The native of Graham, Texas received recognition from the league thanks to an 18-point performance at WT followed by a career high 25 points on 8 of 13 shooting vs. Eastern New Mexico.
Dickinson finished with 12 points vs. Commerce on 4 of 5 shooting, raising her scoring average to a team-best 14.8 points per game and field-goal percentage to .578 – third best in the conference. Her 3-point accuracy (14-28, .500) also is ranked among the national leaders.
Senior forward
Kelsey Smith recorded her second double-double of the season vs. Commerce, scoring 20 points on 6 of 9 shooting and pulling down 10 rebounds to go along with four blocks. Following this effort, Smith is now averaging 14.2 points and 9.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game this season and is shooting .590 from the floor and .600 (6-10) from beyond the arc.
