Women's Basketball | 11/16/2014 4:07:00 PM
ACU Women's Basketball Game Notes (Nov. 17 vs. Howard Payne)
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ABILENE - ACU's two-game season-opening homestand concludes Monday night at 7 p.m. vs. its Brownwood, Texas neighbors from Howard Payne – a DII school based in the American Southwest Conference. The game will be live streamed on
ACUSports.com.
The Wildcats (1-0) and Lady Jackets (0-0) haven't met in close to a decade after ACU embarrassed HPU, 122-42, on Nov. 24, 1995. The 122 points were the most scored by the Wildcats within a regulation game and the 80-point margin of victory is the largest in school history.
Starters Jennifer Clarkson and Auske Steponaviciute each scored 19 points that evening, while Shalonda Bowden chipped in 17. Jill Kurschner poured 16 in off the bench and Farrah Frantz had 10. Incredibly, ACU finished 53 of 92 from the field (.576) and attempted just 10 3-pointers in pushing its all-time series lead to 22-4. The Wildcats last defeat to the Lady Jackets took place more than 30 years ago halfway through the 1982-83 season.
ACU tipped off its 44th season Saturday with a convincing 91-64 victory over Wayland Baptist, which gave head coach
Julie Goodenough her third straight win on Opening Night and lifted the program's season-opener record to 27-17 (.613). The Wildcats haven't lost a season-opener since 2009 and the 91 points were its most against Wayland Baptist through 16 meetings.
Sophomore guard
Alexis Mason led all scorers with 19 points (her 20th career game in double figures) on 7-of 16 shooting, while the Dimba twins - Lizzy and Suzzy - combined for 33 points on 11-of-24 shooting with 18 rebounds.
Suzzy Dimba's 16 point/11-rebound double-double was the 12th of her career, and extended the Dimbas' streak of leading ACU in rebounds to an 18th game. Mason was the last Wildcat other than Suzzy or
Lizzy Dimba to lead the Wildcats in rebounds when she pulled down six vs. Jacksonville on Dec. 21, 2013.
Lizzy Dimba reached 300 career points Saturday behind a 7-of-9 effort at the charity stripe. She also contributed six defensive rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Additional notes from Saturday's game plus information on Howard Payne are listed below.
FLYING QUEENS GROUNDED: During ACU's season-opening 91-64 win vs. Wayland Baptist the Wildcats held the Flying Queens to .323 shooting (.091 3-pointer) and scored 38 points off the opposition's 29 turnovers ... Interestingly, WBU's 52 rebounds were the most by an ACU opponent since Texas A&M-Kingsville pulled down 60 on Feb. 19, 2012 ... Tulsa recorded a opponent season high 50 last season as did several foes during the 2012-13 season ... LaTericka Anderson had 17 rebounds, which were the most by an ACU opponent since Tarleton State's Kiara Wright had games of 19 and 23 vs. the Wildcats on Dec. 8, 2012 and Feb. 9, 2013 ... The 29 turnovers forced by ACU were its most since reaching that same total last year at North Texas on Nov. 23, 2013.
MILESTONES MET AND APPROACHING:
Lizzy Dimba reached 300 career points Nov. 15 vs. Wayland Baptist ...
Alexis Mason scored a game-high 19 vs. the Flying Queens and needs eight points to reach 400 for her career ... Mason – who recorded a single-game high five free throw attempts Saturday – scored 373 points as a freshman ...
Whitney West dished out assist No. 150 vs. WBU ...
Suzzy Dimba needs 17 rebounds for 300 in her career.
TO BEE OR NOT TO BEE: The American Southwest Conference picked the Howard Payne Lady Jackets to finish fourth in its annual preseason polls ... They finished 16-10 overall and 15-7 in ASC play last season, but received one first-place vote ... Former HPU standout and current coach Meia Daniels led the Yellow Jackets to the ASC Championship Tournament in her first season as coach and will have junior guard Danyel Bradley a 2014 all-conference selection return to the lineup ... Bradley recently was named fourth team pre-season All-American by D3hoops.com ... She led the American Southwest Conference in scoring at 20.0 per game and in free-throw pct at .862 ... As a program, the Lady Jackets have recorded 15 consecutive winning seasons ... They officially open their 2014-15 season in Abilene after falling 95-40 in an exhibition at UT-San Antonio on Nov. 8 ... Sarah Van Remmen led the Lady Jackets with 11 points, five boards, three assists and a pair of steals.
FAB FRESHMEN: ACU had eight freshmen on last year's team who combined for 1,435 points through 30 games ... That total accounts for 62.8 percent of the Wildcats' 2,285 points ... Here's a listing of the top-five freshman classes in terms of scoring in addition to number of games played and freshman scoring per game:
1. North Carolina – 1,821 points (62.5%) 37g (42.9 ppg)
2. Indiana – 1,466 points (61.9%) 34g (43.1 ppg)
3. Abilene Christian – 1,435 points (62.8%) 30g (47.8 ppg)4. UNC Wilmington – 1,199 points (70.3%) 32g (37.5 ppg)
5. Arkansas – 1048 points (52.4%) 30g (34.9 ppg)
2013-14 RECORD BREAKDOWN: The Wildcats went 18-12 and 8-6 during their first season as NCAA DI members of the Southland Conference to lift their all-time program record to 746-464 (.617) in 1,210 games played ... ACU went 11-3 at Moody Coliseum and 7-9 on the road ... 3-7 on Saturdays and 4-8 on weekends ... 14-4 during midweek games, including 4-0 on Tuesdays and 6-2 on Thursdays ... 6-4 in day games and 12-8 in night games ... The Wildcats are 26-23 all-time vs. last season's Southland Conference opponents: 0-1 vs. Central Arkansas, 1-0 vs. Houston Baptist,14-8 vs. Incarnate Word, 0-1 vs. Lamar, 0-1 vs. McNeese, 1-0 vs. New Orleans, 1-0 vs. Nicholls, 0-1 vs. Northwestern State, 1-0 vs. Oral Roberts, 1-1 vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 7-5 vs. Sam Houston State, 0-4 vs. Stephen F. Austin and 0-1 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREES:
Suzzy Dimba and
Renata Marquez were Southland Conference honorable mentions in 2013-14 ... Dimba also was one of just five student-athletes – and the only first-year player – tabbed to the conference's all-defensive team..
MAKING THE GRADE:
Renata Marquez was the lone Wildcat named to the Southland Conference all-academic (second) team, but was one of nine tabbed to the league's Commissioner's Honor Roll ... Joining her on this list were current Wildcats Lizzy and
Suzzy Dimba,
Katelyn Goodman,
Sydney Shelstead and
Whitney West.
THREE'S COMPANY: The Wildcats made 291 3-pointers on 873 attempts through 30 games, in 2013-14 easily shattering the team records of 236 and 712 set in 2012-13 ... ACU's number of 3-pointers made and attempted rank third in the NCAA along with its average of 3-pointers made per game at 9.7 behind Sacramento State (12.4) and Florida Gulf Coast (10.2) ... ACU's 291 treys ranked behind five schools ... In the Feb. 18, 2014 game vs. Arlington Baptist, half of ACU's 108 points were scored from 3-point range as the team set two program records with 18 3-point buckets on 50 attempts (.360) … The old records of 17 and 46 were set vs. Texas Lutheran on Nov. 8, 2014 ... ACU's 16 3-point attempts vs. Florida Atlantic on Dec. 20 , 2014 and at UTSA on Jan. 4, 2015 were a season low.
POTPOURRI: ACU's sweep of Incarnate Word in 2013-14 was its first since 2006-07 ... ACU's 96 points at Southeastern Louisiana were their most against a Southland team last season and most against a conference opponent – in a regulation game – since scoring 93 vs. Texas A&M-Commerce in 2012 ... ACU's 111 points vs. Texas Lutheran were the most scored by a Southland Conference team in a single game ... The Wildcats also recorded conference team highs in field goals made (41) and attempted (89), 3-point field goals (18) and attempts (50) and assists (30).
UNBEATEN ON ESPN3: ACU was 2-0 last year when its games were broadcast via ESPN3 ... The Wildcats won their debut game on ESPN3 vs. Sam Houston State on Jan. 25, 73-67, at Moody Coliseum ... ACU's second-half comeback at Incarnate Word in a 73-67 win was broadcast by the Worldwide Leader in Sports a few weeks later on Feb. 13 ... The Wildcats' lone scheduled appearance on ESPN this winter is at Southeastern Louisiana in February.
DIMBA STREAK CONTINUES: Since the Dec. 22, 2014 game at Texas Tech, either Suzzy or
Lizzy Dimba has led the Wildcats in rebounding – a stretch of 18 straight games ... The last Wildcat not named Dimba to lead ACU in this category was
Alexis Mason, who had six in the four-point win over Jacksonville on Dec. 21 ... The twins' streak was nearly broken March 3 at Southeastern La. by
Renata Marquez as she and
Suzzy Dimba shared the team lead with nine.
SENSATIONAL SIX: ACU had six players hit double figures for the third time in 2013-14 during their March 3 win at Southeastern Louisiana ...
Lizzy Dimba and
Alexis Mason shared the team high of 16 points followed by
Suzzy Dimba,
Whitney West and
Renata Marquez with 15 ...
Sydney Shelstead contributed 14 points off the bench in 19 minutes on 6-of-8 shooting ... ACU previously had six players with 10 or more points on Feb 18 vs. Arlington Baptist -– Marquez (32),
Lizzy Dimba (18), Mason (14),
Suzzy Dimba (13),
Jessica Elkins (11) and West (11) – and on Nov. 19, 2013 vs. Northwood ... Shelstead led the Wildcats that night with 20 points followed by Marquez (16), Mason (15), Elkins (12) and
Suzzy Dimba (10) ... Prior to this season, the last six ACU players to accomplish this feat were Jamie Meyer (20), Jody Meyer (12), Autumn Whitaker (16), Kelsey Darby-Holson (10), Kat Kundmueller (11) and Cecilee Perez (11) at SE Oklahoma on Jan. 10, 2009.
LOW TURNOVER: ACU's eight turnovers vs. Sam Houston State were a season low for 2013-14 … The last time ACU turned the ball over fewer than 10 times in a game was Nov. 22, 2008 vs. St. Edward's (9) … The Wildcats had an eight turnover game vs. Angelo State on Jan 14. 2003 … The single-game record for fewest turnovers is believed to be five (at Central Oklahoma on Dec. 2, 1999).
DOUBLE TRIO:
Suzzy Dimba,
Alexis Mason and
Renata Marquez pulled off a rare feat during their game vs. Lamar on Jan. 23 as all scored over 20 points ... It's believed they're the first ACU trio to accomplish this since Jan. 3, 2009 when Jamie Meyer (22), Audrey Maxwell-Lively (28) and Jody Meyer (20) led the Wildcats to a 104-95 win against Texas A&M-Commerce at Moody Coliseum.
NO FOULING AROUND: ACU recorded its fewest fouls of the 2013-14 season vs. Oral Roberts with eight ... Two players had two, while four others had just one ... The Wildcats' foul total was among the lowest in the Southland Conference last season (Central Arkansas had six vs. Houston Baptist) ... ACU last committed fewer than 10 fouls in a game last season vs. Southwestern Adventist (6); however, prior to that game ACU was last kept under 10 fouls in a November 2002 game vs. Incarnate Word (8).
CHRISTMAS PRESENCE: The Wildcats are an impressive 7-2 over the past four seasons in games leading up to Winter Break ... ACU went 1-1 at home in 2010 before winning all four games at the West Texas Lady Buff Classic between 2011-12, beating Shaw, Southwestern Oklahoma, Arkansas-Fort Smith and Emporia State ... ACU won two of three games at Texas Tech this December and put two players on the World Vision Challenge All-Tournament Team:
Alexis Mason and
Suzzy Dimba.
REINING IN THE MAVERICKS: ACU celebrated its first win over a NCAA D-I program in 20 years on Nov. 27 in Arlington as the Wildcats held on to defeat the UTA Mavericks, 79-72 ... Prior to this victory, ACU had not defeated a D-I school since 1993 when they edged Idaho State, 75-74 ...
Renata Marquez made 10 field goals to lead the Wildcats with 26 points and 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season ...
Whitney West blocked three shots and finished with 19 points.
A TRIPLE DOUBLE-DOUBLE: The Wildcats pulled off a rare feat in their win over Northwood as three players registered a double-double:
Sydney Shelstead (20/10),
Renata Marquez (16/10) and
Suzzy Dimba (10/11) ... ACU had 17 double-doubles on the season with
Suzzy Dimba at 11, Marquez with five and
Sydney Shelstead with two ... The last time two Wildcats recorded a double-double was during its triple-overtime, 111-105, loss to Central Oklahoma (Jody and Jamie Meyer) on March 4, 2010 ... In a regulation game, however, you have to go all the way back to January of 2009 to find the last time two Wildcats had a double-double – and that was Jody Meyer (20/13) and Audrey Maxwell-Livey (28/11) in the Commerce game that immediately preceded ACU's 4 overtime clash vs. Texas Woman's ... In that lengthy contest, double-doubles were posted by Maxwell-Lively (18/12) and both Meyer sisters ... Jody had 17/13 and Jamie had 49/14.
NO MOODY BLUES: ACU's 79-59 home win on Nov. 11, 2014 vs. Wayland Baptist was its 350th at Moody Coliseum ... The Wildcats' all-time home record is 360-116 (.756).
SHOOT TO THRILL: The Wildcats shot an impressive .557 percent from the field in their 87-41 win vs. Angelo State on Nov. 14, 2014 connecting on 34-of-61 shots, including 13 3-pointers ... Their shooting percentage was a team-best under second-year head coach
Julie Goodenough and highest since a Dec. 2010 game vs. East Central, in which the Wildcats recorded the same exact number of baskets and attempts ... The last time ACU shot better than 60 percent was in Jan. of 2010 at CSU-Pueblo.
OLD GUARD: ACU has the luxury of returning five letterwinners - all of whom were starters - from last season's 18 win team: junior
Whitney West and sophomores Lizzy and
Suzzy Dimba,
Alexis Mason and
Sydney Shelstead ... This quintet was responsible for producing 1570 points, 718 rebounds, 293 assists, 190 steals and 86 blocks in 3869 minutes played.
NEW PIECES: The Wildcats' recruiting class consists of four high school players and junior college transfers
Ellyn Avery and
Paris Webb ... She and freshman
Alyssa Echols of Pflugerville HS will handle the point guard position, while Avery gives the Wildcats another hot 3-point hand along with
Whitney West and
Alexis Mason ...
Sierra Allen (6-1) and
Madison Parker (5-10) will play down in the post ...
Alana Aguirre - the daughter of former NBA All-Star Mark Aguirre - will miss the season due to injury.
WILDCATS ARE GOODENOUGH:
Julie Goodenough is at the start of her 21st season as a collegiate head coach and third at the helm of the ACU basketball team ...Her first team shared the Lone Star Conference regular-season title with Midwestern State at 16-4 and finished with an overall mark of 21-7 – the program's first 20-win season since 2004-05 ... Her efforts also resulted in her earning co-Coach of the Year honors from the LSC as the Wildcats made their first NCAA postseason since 2008-09 ... Goodenough won her 300th game on Jan. 15, 2013 vs. Incarnate Word, after the Wildcats prevailed over the Cardinals, 76-65 ... The Feb. 1, 2014 game at Northwestern State was
Julie Goodenough's 50th as ACU's head coach.
THE FAMER: Second-year assistant coach
Kendra Hassell has been inducted into two local Halls of Fame since joining the Wildcats in the spring of 2013 ... In recognition of her high school (Colorado City, Texas) and collegiate accomplishments, Hassell was inducted in the Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame in May of 2014 and the Hardin-Simmons Athletics Hall of Fame in July of 2013 ... Hassell played for
Julie Goodenough at HSU and later coached with her at Oklahoma State and Charleston Southern.
NEW COACHES:
Julie Goodenough hired two new assistant coaches this summer:
Kyle Felan and
Matt Stine ... Felan comes to Abilene after spending four seasons working in several roles for the women's basketball coaching staff at Texas A&M University ... Stine worked with the women's basketball programs at Dayton and TCU.
SOUTHLAND BOUND: As second-year members of the Southland Conference, Incarnate Word and ACU were not eligible to win a conference championship during their D-I transition period ... Pending NCAA approval, the Wildcats would be fully eligible beginning with the 2017-18 basketball season.
ARE YOU SOUTHLAND STRONG?: The conference motto encompasses a positive mindset and confident outlook for everything that happens in the Southland ... It is about competitiveness and success in the conference, in the NCAA, in professional sports and many other great achievements by member institutions and student-athletes ... It is also about being successful in the classroom and workforce and about great works by the league's athletic departments reaching out and giving back to the local communities and student-athletes providing leadership through their endless efforts with local charity and youth groups.
LEAVING THE LONE STAR: The Wildcats won 16 combined Lone Star Conference championships from 1983 to 2013, which includes divisional, regular season and tournament titles ... ACU also left the LSC holding nine individual career records, plus three season records and single-game records ... Claudia Schleyer, who played at ACU from 1982-86, remains the LSC's all-time leading scorer with 2,770 points, and the 1995-96 team still holds three LSC's single-season records for most points (2,950), scoring average (89.4 ppg) and assists (635).
THE ACU PROMISE: ACU is a vibrant, innovative, Christ-centered community that engages students in authentic spiritual and intellectual growth, equipping them to make a real difference in the world ... Its mission is to educate students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world.
