ACU vs. Texas Lutheran Live Stats
ABILENE – The much anticipated first year of Abilene Christian women's basketball as a NCAA Division I member of the Southland Conference begins Friday when the defending Lone Star Conference co-champions play host to Texas Lutheran at Moody Coliseum at 7 p.m.
Live statistics will be provided for the Wildcats' game vs. the Bulldogs, which also kicks off a season-opening four-game homestand that also will feature Wayland Baptist on Nov. 11, Angelo State on Nov. 14 and Northwood on Nov. 19. ACU is a combined 62-59 against these four programs, including 9-1 vs. Texas Lutheran, which it hasn't played since a 90-40 victory in 2006.
"Our schedule has worked out well in our favor, starting with the four home games," said second-year head coach
Julie Goodenough. "I'm hoping to have a very successful homestand in order to build up the confidence of this young team."
Last year's Wildcats recorded one of the program's best seasons during their final year in the LSC as they reeled off 21 victories and qualified for their first NCAA Championship since 2009. ACU accomplished all of this and more under the leadership of Goodenough, who inherited a team picked to finish seventh after going 12-14 the year before with many of the same players.
But as newcomers to Division I athletics, the Wildcats' won't be able to extend their NCAA postseason streak until they first complete an arduous four-year transition process. This also means ACU won't be immediately eligible for any Southland Conference Championships, but these drawbacks didn't stop many of the state's top recruits from signing with Goodenough and her new assistants
Kendra Hassell and Mattilyn McIntyre.
McIntyre, a former collegiate standout with Arkansas-Little Rock and Texas A&M-Commerce, just joined the Wildcats last week after playing two years of professional basketball overseas in Romania and Portugal, while Hassell was a two-time Kodak First Team All-American under Goodenough during their time at Hardin-Simmons University. Hassell also was part of Goodenough's coaching staff for several seasons at Oklahoma State and Charleston Southern.
Meet The Wildcats
Twin sisters Lizzy and
Suzzy Dimba from Lubbock Coronado headlined last fall's signing class, which also included
Sydney Shelstead of Mineral Wells,
Erin Maxwell from Ursuline Academy in Dallas, and
Alexis Mason of McKinney North. The Wildcats then inked two additional guards in the spring,
Jessica Elkins of Pasadena Memorial and
Chelsea Ngo from Clear Brook High School in Houston.
Abilene native
Katelyn Goodman and Houston-area forward
Brianne Jolivet joined the team later in the year, giving the Wildcats an incoming freshman of class of nine players. These youngsters are expected to provide ACU with a firm foundation over the next several seasons.
"We're still learning about this team and working on the lineups and rotations, but there's going to be times during the regular season where we'll have five freshmen on the court at once," Goodenough said. "This class is going to receive a lot of minutes. But I think we're going to see them evolve as players over the next several weeks and find out exactly who we can count on in certain game situations."
Leading this group of rookies onto the court is senior
Renata Marquez, who has been an absolute model of consistency since joining the Wildcats in 2010. She's only missed a handful of games over the past three years, but last season Marquez started all 28 contests and for the first time in her career was named second team all-Lone Star Conference after averaging 13.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
Marquez also ranked among the national leaders with a .802 free-throw percentage (89-111) and was selected ACU Student-Athlete of the Month in January of 2013.
Goodenough expects a healthy and well-conditioned Marquez to average between 36 and 37 minutes per game this season.
"Renata is in great shape and has stepped up to become the leader we need her to be," Goodenough said. "She is playing better now that she was in March and has really elevated her game and level of play. She's even been vocal in practice and is bringing the freshmen along with her."
Sophomore
Whitney West will be leaned on for points from the perimeter. In being named the Lone Star Conference's Freshman of the Year, West averaged 7.9 points per game and ranked second in the league with a .418 3-point field goal percentage (41-98). West, who appeared in all 28 games with 14 starts, was credited with 58 assists (2.1 per game) a season ago, plus eight blocks and 24 steals. She also reached double figures in scoring on seven occasions, including a season-high 19 points at Texas A&M-Commerce.
West's classmate,
Cemetra Jenkins of Mesquite, Texas, played in 12 of last season's 28 games, but will certainly be called on more often with then influx of newcomers on the bench.
The Dimba twins, who both stand 5-11 and play the post, led their senior-year high school team to a 36-2 record, which included three tournament titles, a district championship and appearance at the regional final.
Lizzy Dimba averaged 11.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while her sister, Suzzy, put up 10.3 points and 5.4 rebounds.
Mason's per game totals as a senior included 18 points, five steals and assists and four rebounds as she earned district MVP honors in addition to making the all-state and region squads.
Maxwell, a 6-3 post player best known for hitting the game-winning shot in the 2012 5-A TAPPS state championship, recorded career averages of 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Shelstead, who stands 6-1, registered a career double-double of 21 and 12 and led her senior-year team to an area championship and overall record of 24-10. Shelstead's final-year honors included being named all-region, district and academic all-state.
At guard, Elkins poured in over 1,000 career points and was named all-district on four occasions, while Goodman made second team all-Big Country this spring after averaging 13 points per game for the Eagles. She also led AHS in assists, rebounding, field-goal and free-throw percentage.
Ngo, a two-time first team all-district selection, averaged 17.0 points per game as a senior, and Jolivet provided 5.4 and 7.6 rebounds for a Bellaire Senior program that went undefeated against the district the last four years.
With so much youth on the team, Goodenough and her coaches will be dedicating most of this week to individual skill development.
"We started our practices with a lot of full-blown five-on-five activities, but now it's time to take a step back and schedule some 30-minute individual workouts," said Goodenough. "Our freshmen need to make sure they know what's expected of them during games."
"This team is still all about winning ball games," she added, "and so we need all our players to show up and play well. We preach to them every day about the importance of playing just as hard in practice as we do in games, and so far we've been very encouraged by good heads-up play from the freshmen and overall team chemistry."
Schedule Highlights
This year's slate consists of 14 home games and 16 road contests that include tournament stops at North Texas and Texas Tech. The Wildcats will play in Denton vs. the Mean Green and first-year NCAA D-I member Grand Canyon on Nov. 23 and 24, and will visit Lubbock right before Winter Break to compete at the 2013 Basketball Travelers Invitational from Dec. 20-22.
The Wildcats will meet Florida Atlantic during the invitational's first day of competition followed by Jacksonville University on Saturday and Texas Tech on the Sunday before Christmas. The Red Raiders finished last year with a 21-11 record and are one of three NCAA Tournament qualifiers on ACU's schedule along with Tulsa of Conference USA and Southland Conference champion Oral Roberts.
The Golden Eagles were one of four Southland Conference teams to qualify for last year's postseason. Sam Houston State, which tied Oral Roberts for the regular-season title, participated in the Women's National Invitational Tournament, while Lamar and McNeese State accepted bids to play in the Women's Basketball Invitational.
ACU's 14-game conference schedule doesn't begin until the weekend of Jan. 9 when the Wildcats play at New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana. They'll then return to Moody Coliseum for a four-game homestand that features Oral Roberts, Central Arkansas, Lamar and Sam Houston State from Jan. 16-25.
