Wildcats to Kansas City for weekend double dip

Women's Basketball | 11/25/2014 7:09:00 PM

ACU Women's Basketball Game Notes (Plaza Lights Classic | Nov. 28-29 | vs. George Mason and UMKC)

Live Stats vs. George Mason | Audio 
Live Stats vs. UMKC | Audio

ABILENE - Abilene Christian women's basketball heads to Kansas City and the campus of UMKC this Thanksgiving weekend for the annual Plaza Lights Classic, which the Wildcats' lone tournament appearance of the 2014-15 season. Their Friday game vs. George Mason will be broadcast locally on 98.1 FM and at ACUSports.com, while their Saturday contest vs. the host Roos will be an internet-only broadcast because of a conflict with the men's game at UC-Riverside.

Each of ACU's games is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m., or 30 minutes following the 1 p.m. games that will feature Mississippi Valley State.

George Mason (3-1) is the first Atlantic 10 school to ever face the Wildcats. The Patriots started the week at 3-1 with wins over Virginia Tech, Delaware State and College of Charleston and will play at Navy Tuesday night before coming to Kansas City.

GMU was predicted to finish 11th out of 14 teams as it begins its second season in the A-10. Junior guard Taylor Brown was named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference Second Team as last year she led the Patriots with 18.9 points per game. The Patriots also bring back seniors Sandra Ngoie (12.0 PPG) and Talisha Watts (6.6 PPG) in addition to junior Reana Mohamed (3.2 PPG).

The Roos of UMKC are off to 1-3 start as they followed a season-opening win at Eastern Illinois with consecutive losses to Kansas State, Rockhurst and Western Illinois.

UMKC was picked sixth by the media and seventh by the coaches in the WAC Basketball Preview and sophomore guard Calli White was named to the Preseason Second Team All-WAC by both polls, while Grace Mitchell joined her on the media squad.

White averaged 9.9 points last season and set the UMKC freshmen records for three-point field goals (73) and games started last season (30) and Mitchell averaged 5.4 points and 2.6 rebounds during her rookie campaign

UMKC is the third WAC school to battle the Wildcats in their program's history. ACU lost 70-57 to Grand Canyon last November and to New Mexico State, 73-67, during the 1993-94 season; however, the Wildcats own a 3-2 series lead over WAC member UT-Pan American with their last meeting taking place during the 1986-87 season.  

ACU (3-1) comes into this weekend flying high after defeating Eastern Washington, 79-72, with an incredible second-half comeback. The Wildcats gave up 45 points and 18 field goals in the first half but then limited the Eagles to just 27 points and 40 percent shooting from the field in the second half 

EWU hit back-to-back buckets late in the second half to take a 70-68 lead with 5:29 to play but that layup by Jade Redmon would be the Eagles' final field goal of the game and their final points until Lexie Nelson hit two free throws with six seconds to play.

In between, Sydney Shelstead powered an ACU run with three points, four rebounds and one assist for a dagger 3-pointer from Whitney West that gave ACU a 78-70 lead 1:35 to play. Shelstead enjoyed her best overall game Monday night as she posted her third career double-double with a personal best 18 rebounds and 18 points. Her 18 rebounds are the most by a Wildcat since Kelsey Smith had 19 in a win over Incarnate Word on Feb. 15, 2012.

Additional updated ACU women's basketball notes are listed below.
 

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MILESTONES MET AND APPROACHING: Lizzy Dimba reached 300 career points Nov. 15 vs. Wayland Baptist and is 22 rebounds shy of 200 ... Suzzy Dimba recorded her 300th career rebound vs. Eastern Washington and is seven points shy of 400 ... Alexis Mason surpassed 400 career points Nov. 17 vs. Howard Payne ... Mason scored 373 points as a freshman and has twice led ACU in scoring this season ... Mason played her 1,000th minute Monday vs. Eastern Washington ... Sydney Shelstead is 18 rebounds away from 200 and 28 points away from 300 ...  Whitney West dished out assist No. 150 vs. Wayland Baptist and is two points shy of 600.

CHASING CURTIS: ACU's Nov. 24 win over Eastern Washington was the 42nd for Julie Goodenough as the Wildcats' head coach, leaving her four wins shy of passing Dr. Joyce Curtis (45-57, .441) for fifth on the program's all-time wins list ... A professor emerita of exercise science and health, Dr. Curtis was the first coach for women's volleyball, badminton, basketball and tennis and was inducted into the ACU Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 ... Goodenough's .677 winning percentage is second only to Suzanne Fox (117-33, .780).

RIVER CITY RECAP: ACU lost its first game of the season Nov. 19 at UTSA, 70-57 ... The Wildcats set season highs for steals with 18 and blocks with five ... Sophomore Sydney Shelstead recorded a single-game career high of three blocks, while guards Whitney West and Alyssa Echols each had a career high five steals ... Mason finished the game with 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting and  5-of-6 free throws ... Lizzy Dimba, meanwhile, went 7-of-10 from the charity stripe in finishing with a game high 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds to tie Shelstead for the team lead.

HOMECOMING: ACU completed its two-game, season-opening homestand at 2-0 following a Nov. 17 win over Howard Payne, 102-60 ... The Wildcats kicked off their 44th season of women's basketball on Nov. 15 with a 91-64 victory over Wayland Baptist ... ACU has won its last five season openers and is 27-17 all-time on Opening Night ... Moody Coliseum is in its 46th year of hosting basketball at ACU, with the first men's game played here on Feb. 27, 1968 ... The Wildcats' history as a program dates all the way the back to 1971-72 and has only called six individuals head coach ... The Wildcats' all-time home record is 362-116 (.757).

BRING THE PAYNE: ACU hit the century mark for the first time this season and 48th in program history Nov. 17 with its dominating 102-60 victory over Howard Payne ... The Wildcats outscored Howard Payne 20-6 in the opening five minutes of the contest and coasted from there as freshman Madison Parker (15) and sophomores Alexis Mason (24), Suzzy Dimba (17), Lizzy Dimba (15) and Sydney Shelstead (14) all scored in double figures ... The Wildcats shot 51.4 percent from the field (37 of 72), including 41.7 percent from 3-point range (10 of 24).

AN OSCAR FOR MADISON: In just her second collegiate game, freshman Madison Parker posted a double-double off the bench with 15 points on 5-9 shooting (2-3 3-point range) and 12 rebounds (6 offensive) ... Her 12 rebounds led the team as she became the first Wildcat to lead the team in rebounding other than Suzzy or Lizzy Dimba since December of last season – breaking the Dimbas' streak at 18 games. 

NO BRICKS FOR THIS MASON: Sophomore Alexis Mason scored more than 20 points for the fourth time in her career Nov. 17 vs. Howard Payne as she knocked down 5-of-7 treys as part of a 9-15 performance from the field ... She scored a career high 26 points last season vs. Texas A&M-Commerce and later in the year scored 20 vs. Lamar and 23 vs. Houston Baptist ... Mason led the Wildcats in scoring Saturday vs. Wayland Baptist with 19 points ... Her next rebound will be the 100th of her career.

FOUL PLAY: The Wildcats began their win over Howard Payne with 18 consecutive successful free-throw attempts as they finished the game 18-19 (.947) with the lone miss coming from Suzzy Dimba with 3:35 remaining ... ACU's free throw streak was its best since knocking down 17 straight on March 4, 2010 vs. Central Oklahoma (31-33) ... The Wildcats also made 17 straight FTs to end the West Texas A&M game played on Feb. 7, 2008 ... More recently, the Wildcats had a 15-of-15 free throw game at St. Edward's in Dec. of 2012 and made 15 of 16-second half free throws to finish a Jan. 5, 2013 game at Cameron, 19 for 20.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Head coach Julie Goodenough introduced her 2015 recruiting class the week of Nov. 10 ... Coming to join the Wildcats' next season are Shelby Jones (Clovis, N.M./Clovis HS), McKenzie Martin (Allen, Texas / Allen HS), Breklyn Wentz (Lubbock, Texas / Trinity Christian ) and Sara Williamson (Rockwall, Texas / Rockwall HS) ... Martin and Williamson are both coming to ACU from the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, while Wentz - a native of Lubbock - is the younger sister of junior Parker Wentz of the Wildcats' men's basketball team ... Jones grew up in the Eastern New Mexico hamlet of Clovis.  

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 ... 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.

IT'S LIKE, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER: Despite posting a winning 8-6 record during its first year as a NCAA DI member of the Southland Conference and returning five players with starting experience, the Southland Conference voters picked Abilene Christian to finish eighth in the preseason poll ... The Wildcats also failed to land any players on the all-preseason first or second teams even though sophomore Suzzy Dimba was the lone freshman last season named to an all-defensive team alongside five seniors ... Stephen F. Austin is expected to repeat as conference champions.

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.

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.  

2013-14 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).  

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.     ACU – 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)

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 , 2013 and at UTSA on Jan. 4, 2014 were a season low.

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 ... ACU will not be on ESPN3 this season until Feb. 21 at Southeastern Louisiana.

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.

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.