JULIE GOODENOUGH POSTGAME INTERVIEW WITH GRANT BOONE
ABILENE – For the 17th time in program history – and first since 2004-05 – Abilene Christian women's basketball has a 20-win team. Its milestone victory came Tuesday night at Moody Coliseum, where the Wildcats withstood a fierce battle from Texas Woman's before finally prevailing in the closing minutes, 67-50.
The victory was the Wildcats' (20-4) fifth straight and kept them atop the Lone Star Conference standings at 15-3. The Pioneers, meanwhile, have lost seven in a row in falling to 6-17 overall and 4-13 in the LSC.
Junior guard
Mackenzie Lankford led all players with 19 points and was 11-of-12 from the free-throw line on a night in which the Wildcats combined to make 31 trips to the charity stripe (.806). She also was credited with three assists, the last of which was fed to senior center
Kelsey Smith, who iced the game with her layup at the 2:29 mark.
Smith's bucket put the Wildcats ahead by 12 points at 58-46 and her block on Rebekah Cluley's follow-up attempt ignited some minor fireworks between Lankford – who came down with the rebound – and the Pioneers' junior guard. The two players were tangled momentarily after Lankford came down with the ball, but the referees called a technical on Cluley plus a personal foul, which was her fifth of the game.
Lankford nailed both her free-throw attempts, as did freshman
Kynzie Newman, who further put the game out of reach with her ninth and 10th points of the night.
Junior forward
Renata Marquez also reached double digits with 14 points and made several critical baskets while the Pioneers were still firmly in the game.
Marquez' first bucket of the second half followed a 3-pointer from Newman and pushed the ACU lead back to 10 points after TWU had crept to within five. She then hit two more within a span of 1:20 right before the Pioneers' Tabbatha Thurmond took off on a 6-0 run that brought her team within four points (58-54) at the 7:01 mark.
TWU's threat did not last long as the Wildcats scored the next six points to regain their double-digit lead, and then Marquez knocked down ACU's first attempt coming out of the final media timeout. Less than a minute later, Newman forced a turnover that eventually led to Lankford finding Smith for the game-clinching bucket.
ACU finished the game on a 19-6 run following the last of Thurmond's buckets, with 11 of those points coming from the free-throw line. TWU went cold offensively over the last seven minutes and didn't hit a field until there was 1:49 remaining when the home team was ahead comfortably by 16.
The Wildcats entered the break leading 29-19 despite shooing 25.8 overall and 12.5 percent from 3-point range. Luckily for them, they made 11 free throws on 12 attempts and held the Pioneers scoreless over the final 4:43.
ACU jumped out to a 7-0 lead only to see the Pioneers come right back with a 12-4 run that gave them their first and only lead at the 11:01 mark. The Wildcats soon afterward went on a 6-0 run thanks to consecutive layups from Newman and Marquez plus a pair of free throws from
Sadie Dickinson that made the score 20-16.
A 3-point play from Cluley at 4:43 served as TWU's final points of the half and cut the ACU lead to one at 20-19. Freshman
Whitney West then buried a big 3-pointer, and with time running out Newman stole a pass that led to an uncontested layup and a 10-point halftime lead.
TWU didn't score again until 17:30 of the second half – a scoring drought of 7:03 – but that jumper by Cluley kick started a 14-9 Pioneer run that trimmed the Wildcats' lead down to five points at 38-33 and 13:23 remaining.
Cluley netted a game-high 18 points for the Pioneers, while Thurmond finished with 12. Overall, TWU shot .380 from the floor, but were a disappointing 3 of 20 from 3-point range and 7 of 13 from the free-throw line.
The Wildcats return to action next week Wednesday, Feb. 27 for a 5:30 p.m. game at Incarnate Word. ACU defeated the Cardinals in their first meeting this season, 76-65, at Moody Coliseum, which served as
Julie Goodenough's 300th career win as a collegiate head coach.
Goodenough was recognized for this achievement during tonight's pregame ceremonies and was joined at midcourt by several members of the ACU and Hardin-Simmons athletics departments. Goodenough won 188 of her 309 games at Hardin-Simmons from 1993-2002.
