ABILENE – Abilene Christian women's basketball erased a sluggish start with a 26-point performance in the second quarter and went on to dominate the final 30 minutes against the University of the Southwest, 91-39, in the 600th game of head coach
Julie Goodenough's career.
The win lifted ACU's early-season record to 3-1, while the Mustangs fell to 2-4.
The Wildcats shot .250 in the first quarter but escaped with a 15-11 lead thanks to eight steals that led to 11 points. Five of those thefts were credited to
Suzzy Dimba who posted her first double-double of the season tonight with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
ACU's defense continued to pressure Southwestern well into the second quarter, forcing 11 turnovers in 10 minutes, while the offense finally began to find its stroke. Senior Whitney (West) Swinford and
McKenzie Martin each had seven points that frame, and at the foul line the Wildcats were a combined 8-of-8. By comparison, the Mustangs launched only 10 shots and missed seven of those plus all their 3-pointers and free throws as ACU went into the break ahead comfortably at 41-17.
The Wildcats' bench took over a little after halftime. Sophomore
Sierra Allen made both of her field goals and hit two foul shots in the third quarter to finish with a career high 11 points, and Martin banked in one of her two 3-point baskets in scoring a game-high 13 points.
In addition to blocking two shots and coming up with a career-best eight steals,
Suzzy Dimba scored five points and pulled down two rebounds in the final quarter to reach her 22nd career double-double. Her sister, Lizzy, also posted a double-double of 12 points / 11 rebounds to go along with three assists and three steals.
The Wildcats collected 22 steals as a team tonight, which were their most since coming up with 25 vs. Lincoln in November of 2004.
Five Wildcats finished in double figures led by Martin's 13 followed by a dozen each for Swinford and the Dimba twins. Meanwhile, the Wildcats' two leading scorers coming into tonight's game –
Sydney Shelstead and
Alexis Mason – combined for just 13 points.
Nishalina Buksh led all Mustangs with 13 points and nine rebounds as her team was held to .271 shooting (13-48) from the floor.
ACU rebounded from its slow first quarter to finish just under 40-percent shooting at .382 (29-76), while their free-throw shooting finished well above 80 percent for the second consecutive game at .875 (28-32). The Wildcats made .833 percent (15-18) of their foul shots Saturday in their 19-point win over UTSA, 79-60.
A native of Haskell, Texas, Goodenough began her head-coaching career right out of college with Hardin-Simmons University where she spent nine seasons and led the Cowgirls to four-straight NCAA D-III Championship appearances. That effort caught the attention of another group of Cowgirls at Oklahoma State, and after coaching for three seasons in Stillwater she turned around the program at Charleston Southern, leading the Buccaneers to a pair of postseason appearances in her final three years.
Goodenough returned to the Big Country in 2012 and has since led the Wildcats to three-straight winning seasons. She won her 300th game as head coach during her first year at ACU, and later this season she will coach her 100th game on the Wildcat bench on Feb. 10 vs. Sam Houston State.
ACU returns to action Friday at 2 p.m. vs. Missouri Valley College to complete their three-game homestand.
