ABILENE, Texas – Porsha Roberts scored six of her game-high 25 points in overtime Saturday afternoon as Stephen F. Austin rallied from a seven-point second-half deficit to knock off the ACU Wildcats, 71-69, in a tight Southland Conference contest at Moody Coliseum.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 8-7 overall and 1-4 in league play, while the Lady Jacks improve to 11-5 and 4-1 in in the Southland. ACU is back in action Thursday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Sam Houston State in another Southland Conference game at Moody Coliseum.
Saturday's game was tight throughout until ACU went on a 12-5 run midway through the second half to turn a 41-41 tie into a 53-46 lead with 8:01 to play. Freshman Ellen Avery put the cap on the run with a 3-pointer to give ACU the biggest lead either team enjoyed in the game.
But the Wildcats couldn't finish.
In the final 7:37 of the second half, ACU hit 3 of 7 shots from the field (2 of 4 from 3-point range), but missed a couple of layups, and then only converted 3 of 5 free throws while turning the ball over six times. ACU led 61-56 after an
Alexis Mason 3-pointer with 2:38 to play, but Roberts scored with 2:22 to play to make it 61-58.
With the score still 61-58 with 43 seconds left,
Lizzy Dimba missed the front end of a one-and-one and Paulletta Powell made the Wildcats pay on the other end with two free throws to cut ACU's lead to 61-60 with 29 seconds to play. But
Whitney West was fouled in the backcourt with 27 seconds left and she calmly drained both free throws to push the lead to 63-60.
After a three-point play by SFA's Taylor Ross tied the game at 63-63 with 21 seconds to play,
Lizzy Dimba was fouled with 11 seconds to play and a chance to give her team a two-point lead. But she managed to only hit the second of two free throws to give ACU a 64-63 lead.
On SFA's final possession, Ross missed a shot, but Roberts was fouled by
Suzzy Dimba on the rebound and went to the line with a chance to put her team in front. She missed the first, but drained the second to send the game to the overtime period where she dominated.
She scored SFA's first six points in overtime and Ross hit an insurance free throw with 18 seconds left to put SFA in front, 71-69. ACU had the final shot, but
Suzzy Dimba's 3-point attempt at the buzzer hit the front iron and bounced away to give SFA the win. ACU went ice cold from the field in overtime, hitting just 1 of 7 shots and only making 3 of 6 free throws in the extra five-minute period.
Lizzy Dimba finished with a team-high 17 points off the bench, and her 10 rebounds marked her fourth double-double of the season (and fourth of her career). West had 14 points for ACU, while Shelstead had 11 for the Wildcats.
