Box Score
NATCHITOCHES, La. – For the first time this season, an ACU halftime lead didn't translate into a victory as Northwestern State put together one big run after another in the second half Saturday afternoon to knock off the Wildcats, 76-72, in Southland Conference women's basketball action at Prather Coliseum.
The loss – the Wildcats' second straight and fourth in their last five games – drops ACU to 12-10 overall and 3-4 in Southland play, while the Demons improve to 12-9 and 5-4. ACU will be back in action Thursday at 5:30 p.m. when it hosts Houston Baptist Moody Coliseum.
Prior to Saturday, the Wildcats were 10-0 when they led at halftime, and they carried a 38-31 lead into the halftime break Saturday against the Demons, thanks to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by freshman
Alexis Mason.
But things began to fall apart for the Wildcats midway through the second half after they had pushed their lead to 46-39 with 15:55 to play on a 3-pointer by sophomore point guard
Whitney West, who was back in the lineup Saturday after missing Thursday's game at Stephen F. Austin with flu-like symptoms.
After that bucket, however, the Demons put together an 11-0 run over the next 2:11 to take a 50-46 lead. They eventually pushed their lead out to 59-52 with 10:20 left on a 3-pointer from Meredith Graf.
ACU answered, however, with a 9-0 run of its own on a three-point play by Mason and back-to-back 3-pointers from West and Mason, the last one coming with 8:09 to play, giving the Wildcats a 61-59 lead.
But in a game of runs, Northwestern State answered with an 11-0 run to regain a nine-point lead (70-61) with 2:04 to play. Janell Perez hit a layup to end the run, giving the Demons their largest lead of the game.
The Wildcats wouldn't go away, however, as they continued to battle, cutting the lead to four (72-68) on a West jumper. After Trudy Armstead free throws with 38 sends to play made it a 74-68 game, West was fouled on a 3-point attempt and went to the line to try and cut the lead in half.
But West – who played 33 valiant minutes after spending most of the previous two days in bed – missed the first two before hitting the third to make it a 74-69 game. Northwestern State, however, turned the ball over on the inbounds pass and
Renata Marquez answered with a 3-pointer to make it a 74-72 game with 23 seconds left.
Trudy Armstead hit a free throw with 18 seconds left to make it 75-72, but Marquez missed a straight-on 3-pointer with four seconds left to seal the Wildcats' fate.
Mason finished with a game-high 18 points on 6 of 10 shooting (5 of 9 from 3-point range), while Marquez had 16 and West 12 for the Wildcats.
Sydney Shelstead was a force off the bench for the Wildcats with 16 points and five rebounds in 32 minutes.
