LAKE CHARLES, La. - Abilene Christian women's basketball broke away from its traditional lineup for the first time all season and the change certainly accomplished its desired effect as the Wildcats started and finished strong to stun McNeese State, 75-59, Wednesday night at Burton Coliseum.
The win snapped a season-long four-game losing skid for the Wildcats, improving their season and Southland Conference marks to 8-6 and 1-3, while the Cowgirls fell to 8-7 and 2-2. It was only the second loss all season at home for McNeese.
Suzzy and
Lizzy Dimba along with guards
Alexis Mason and
Whitney West remained in the lineup for the 23rd consecutive game dating back to last season, but head coach
Julie Goodenough opted to have sophomore forward
Sydney Shelstead come off the bench tonight while starting junior guard
Paris Webb.
And each player unquestionably proved to be a major contributor.
Webb totaled 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting with a pair of threes, pulled down four rebounds and dished out four assists through 33 minutes in her first start as a Wildcat.
Shelstead, meanwhile, put up starter numbers, registering her sixth double-double of the season, coming down with 14 rebounds and scoring 19 points in 28 minutes.
"I told Sydney she was not going to start, but she was going to be a spark," said Goodenough. "She is the embodiment of team play and she came in and did a great job ... Paris did a fine job breaking up their pressure and found her teammates for some open looks.
"It was a good team effort overall and I'm proud of our response (from being down 10 points) vs. a good McNeese team. The girls showed character and we always talk about being, 'Godly young women striving for excellence,' and that means playing hard no matter what."
The Wildcats led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but that advantage was gone by halftime and the Cowgirls continued to roll offensively through the opening moments of the second half and grabbed a 10-point lead (49-39) following a three-point play by Talisa Boyd at the 17:08 mark.
Shockingly though, as fast as the Cowgirls offense could appear, it would disappear just as quick - and for long stretches of time. The bucket by Boyd would be McNeese's last for close to seven minutes as the Wildcats struck back with a 14-1 run to regain the lead at 53-50, and right after the Cowgirls connected on consecutive baskets within 10 seconds at the midway point to go up 54-53, they again were held without a field goal for three minutes.
It was during the latter scoring drought with about 9:30 remaining that Shelstead began to take off on offense, scoring six straight points for the Wildcats followed by a big 3-pointer off the bench from sophomore
Ellyn Avery with 7:25 to go.
Avery added a second basket a minute later and by the final media timeout the Wildcats had their second 15-point lead of the night at 71-56 thanks to a layup and a 'and one' from Shelstead.
ACU finished the game on a 36-10 over the final 15:53 after McNeese took its largest lead of the evening.
"The team showed a lot of perseverance and didn't get too down," said Goodenough. "In fact, I'm not sure if they even looked at the scoreboard too much to see how far ahead or behind we were. They kept their composure when we were losing and even when we had a few starters in foul trouble."
ACU started tonight incredibly efficient on offense, knocking down five of its first seven field goal attempts, the last of which forced McNeese to call a timeout with 16:08 remaining. The Dimbas were responsible for ACU's first 12 points with both Lizzy and Suzzy burying a 3-pointer.
Shelstead came in following the first media timeout and broke the Dimbas' streak with a layup that made it 14-4 in ACU's favor and capped a 7-0 run. Moments later ACU went off on a mini 3-point binge as long-distance buckets by
Lizzy Dimba, West and two from Webb gave the Wildcats a 28-13 lead.
But the Cowgirls quickly transitioned to a full-court press following the second media stoppage that resulted in five turnovers and 11-straight points as ACU went scoreless from 9:43 to 6:17. That run cut the Wildcats lead down to 30-26.
A Shelstead basket eventually snapped ACU's scoreless streak, but the Wildcats couldn't regain the offensive firepower that carried them through the first ten minutes as they hit just two more field goals over the final six minutes.
McNeese went on a 13-4 run during the final four minutes of first half, during which a bucket by Verdin made it a one-possession game at the 2:09 mark. Then Allison Baggett tied the score for the first time with a 3-pointer at :45 seconds, and Boyd gave the home team its first lead a mere 10 seconds.
A Jalyn Johnson free throw put McNeese ahead at halftime, 39-36.
ACU started the half shooting .571 (12-21) from the floor and .600 (6-10) from 3-point range, but finished 3-14 (.214) and 0-5 (.000).
McNeese shot .472 in the first half (.17-36) despite missing 10 3-pointers. Baggett had the most points with 12 as she connected on 5-of-7 attempts. She then hit her first of the second half, kick starting a 10-3 run that put the Cowgirls ahead by 10 points three minutes in.
That's as good as it would get, however, for McNeese as the Cowgirls went stone cold from the field for the remainder of the contest, finishing 24-of-66 (.364) from the field and 4-27 (.148) from beyond the arc.
Baggett led all Cowgirls with 17 points, but none of her teammates reached double figures either in scoring or rebounds as ACU won the battle off the glass, 42-36 (23-14 in second half).
In addition to Shelstead's 14 boards, Mason and both Dimbas each pulled down six rebounds.
Suzzy Dimba also added two blocks.
The Wildcats didn't make any trips to the free throw line in the first half, but connected on 8-of-11 tries in the second half led by Mason, who went 4-of-4 and West who went 2-of-2 after hitting the front end of a one-and-one with 5:03 remaining.
ACU employed all of four lineups through 30 games last season with
Renata Marquez, West, Mason, and Suzzy and
Lizzy Dimba as its most frequent combination (18g).
The Wildcats return to action Saturday at 2 p.m. for a home showdown vs. the defending Southland Conference champions from Stephen F. Austin that will follow the men's nationally televised game against the Lumberjacks. The men's contest tips at 11 a.m. on CBS Sports Network.
