Women's Basketball | 11/30/2015 6:13:00 PM
Game Notes Live Stats | Video | Audio ABILENE – The Abilene Christian and Texas Tech women's basketball teams meet for the third consecutive season Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. when the Red Raiders play host to the Wildcats at United Supermarkets Arena.
The game will offer live stats and be broadcast in Abilene on 98.1 FM – The Ticket with
Grant Boone handling the play-by-play.
Texas Tech leads the all-time series 18-7 with a majority of those meetings taking place between 1971-83. The series then went dormant for 30 years until ACU jumped from the NCAA DI Lone Star Conference and into the NCAA DI Southland Conference.
The Wildcats stunned Red Raider Nation in their first meeting back on the court, winning 58-57 on a pair of
Lizzy Dimba free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining. Her twin sister, Suzie, also produced a solid effort in front of their hometown crowd, posting a 16-point / 13-rebound double-double.
In last year's rematch, however, the Red Raiders evened their modern series at 1-1 as senior Amber Battle returned from a lengthy suspension to score 13 points with 11 rebounds in the 61-44 victory. ACU countered with 10 points and seven rebounds from
Lizzy Dimba, while
Suzzy Dimba came down with eight boards.
ACU enters Wednesday's game on a three-game home winning streak, which included a 79-60 win over UTSA followed by consecutive drubbings of NAIA Southwest (91-39) and Missouri Valley College (96-35). The back-to-back wins over the Mustangs and Vikings marked the first time in close to 40 years that the Wildcats held consecutive opponents under 40 points.
It was early in the 1974-75 season when the Wildcats limited their Key City neighbors McMurry and Hardin-Simmons to 39 and 37 points, respectively. Additionally, the 35 points were the fewest surrendered by a Wildcat team since Southwestern Adventist produced 21 on Jan. 12, 2013.
The game against Missouri Valley College also saw the Wildcats finish with just six personal fouls and seven turnovers. The Wildcats' six fouls tied a
Julie Goodenough-era record for the fewest in a single game, while their turnover total was at its lowest since coughing up the ball eight times vs. Sam Houston State on Jan. 25, 2014.
ACU's single-game record for fewest turnovers is believed to be five, recoded at Central Oklahoma on Dec. 2, 1999.
Also of note has been the Wildcats' proficiency at the free-throw line as they've collectively shot 80 percent or better for the past three games – their longest streak since 2013. Leading up to the MVC game, ACU posted a 28-32 (.875) performance vs. Southwest, and a 15-18 (.833) effort against UTSA. The Wildcats then knocked down 21-of-23 (.913) shots from the free-throw line against the Vikings.
The Red Raiders are 3-0 home to start the year and 4-1 overall with their only loss coming in Las Vegas to Washington, 77-73. Their wins have come against Niagara, Southeastern Louisiana, Idaho State and Fordham.
Battle is no longer with Texas Tech, however, they have four players averaging double figures in scoring this season, including JUCO transfer Leashja Grant (11.8 ppg, 9.2 rpg).
Texas Tech was picked to finish ninth of 10 teams in the Big 12 Conference. The Red Raiders placed last in their conference at 5-13 in 2014-15 and were 15-16 overall.
