ABILENE – Abilene Christian women's basketball finished its non-conference season and the 2015 calendar year with a 79-51 victory over Schreiner New Year's Even afternoon at Moody Coliseum. Junior forward
Sydney Shelstead led all scorers with 24 points and classmate
Suzzy Dimba posted a 12-point / 10-rebound double-double in leading the Wildcats (9-2) to their best start since 1996-97.
That year's crop of Wildcats started 10-1 and reached the NCAA Regional semifinals behind an overall record of 24-6.
The Wildcats and Mountaineers didn't play the prettiest of games as evident by 50 combined turnovers and 40 trips to the foul line, but Shelstead had herself quite the game in knocking down 7-of-9 shots from the field – including a rare 3-point attempt – and was 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.
Suzzy Dimba scored a majority of her points from the charity stripe in hitting 8-of-10 tries, while eight of her 10 rebounds came off the defensive glass. The two-time member of the Southland's All-Defensive Team also blocked three shots, forced three turnovers and dished out three assists. Her twin sister, Lizzy, meanwhile led all players with five assists.
The Wildcats found success early on from beyond the 3-point arc, finishing the first half 6-of-11, led by Mason, who scored nine points on three treys, and
Whitney West Swinford, who sank 2-of-3 tries. Six Wildcats buried at least one 3-pointer as the home team finished the contest 9-of-21 (.429) from the arc.
A 3-pointer with 1:20 to go in the first quarter by freshman
McKenzie Martin gave the Wildcats some breathing room over Schreiner at 14-10 and then
Alyssa Echols assisted on a Shelstead layup on the Wildcats' final possession to go up 16-10.
Echols then scored all six of her points within the first two minutes of the second quarter as the Wildcats started on an 8-0 run that pushed their lead out to 14 points at 24-10.
Schreiner, however, battled back to make it a two-possession contest.
After Shelstead hit her 3-pointer with 6:16 left in the half, the Mountaineers countered with an 8-0 run that trimmed the Wildcats' lead to 30-23. Mason then hit a huge 3-pointer right that interrupted the Mountaineers' momentum shift as Schreiner's Codi Simmons scored six of the game's next eight points to make it 35-29.
That's as close as the visitors would get the rest of the way. Sophomore
Sierra Allen hit a foul shot with 1:19 to go and in the closing seconds of the first half,
Suzzy Dimba converted a three-point play to give ACU a 39-29 lead at the break.
The Wildcats scored the first seven points of the third quarter and Schreiner could never quite dig its way out of a double-digit deficit despite getting a couple of 3-pointers from Jackson and Cassandra Aleman. Jackson led the Mountaineers with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and Simmons chipped in 11 off the bench.
ACU pushed its advantage past 20 points for the first time midway through the fourth quarter and reached its biggest lead of the afternoon at 28 points following another three-point play from
Suzzy Dimba during the final minute of regulation.
The Wildcats return to action Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Southland Conference season opener at Central Arkansas. ACU lost to the Sugar Bears, 66-60, at home last season, and 67-54 the year prior.
