HAMMOND, La. – ACU sophomore forward
Suzzy Dimba recorded her 10th double-double of the season Saturday afternoon as the Wildcats dominated Southeastern Louisiana in an 83-65 win over the Lady Lions in Southland Conference play at the University Center.
The win is the fourth straight for the Wildcats and seventh in their last nine games as they improve to 15-10 overall and 7-7 in the Southland Conference. After an 0-3 start to conference play, ACU is now 7-4 in its last 11 league games.
The Lady Lions had absolutely no answer for the trio of
Suzzy Dimba,
Lizzy Dimba and
Sydney Shelstead. Aside from
Suzzy Dimba's 23 points and 15 rebounds,
Lizzy Dimba had 12 points and seven rebounds and Shelstead recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Those three players combined for 49 points and 33 rebounds, while Southeastern's three starters up front – Annessa De La Cruz, Jameika Hoskins and Adrina LaVern – combined for just 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Southeastern scored the game's first five poitns, but
Suzzy Dimba answered with a 3-pointer and a layup sandwiched around a Shelstead jumper to give ACU a 7-5 lead with 16:49 left in the first half. ACU would never trail the rest of the game. The Wildcats led 39-38 with 3:01 left in the first half before Shelstead hit a pair of free throws,
Alyssa Echols buried a layup and
Suzzy Dimba hit a jumper to push the Wildcats' lead to 45-38 at halftime.
Southeastern would cut ACU's lead to 49-47 with 15:08 left in the game on a Hoskins jumper, but ACU answered with an 8-2 run over the next 3:14 to push the lead back to eight points (57-49).
Alexis Mason – who had 13 points off the bench – hit a pair of 3-pointers in the run and
Madison Parker hit two free throws to help give ACU a little bit of breathing room.
But Southeastern wouldn't go away as the Lady Lions got the ACU lead back down to 58-53 with 10:12 to play on a De La Cruz free throw. ACU, though, responded with a 7-0 run to push its lead to 12 points (65-53) with 6:28 to play. Shelstead hit four straight free throws before she hit a jumper and
Whitney West the second of two free throws to give ACU the separation it needed.
Suzzy Dimba hit a 3-pointer with 3:39 to play to give ACU its first 15-point lead of the game (72-57), and after Taylin Underwood hit a 3-pointer with 2:40 to play to make it 72-60, West answered with a 3-pointer of her own to push the Wildcats' lead back to 15 at 75-60 with 2:29 to play.
The last 148 seconds after that 3-pointer were academic as ACU hit 8 of 10 free throws in the final seconds to take the win.
Suzzy Dimba was 5 of 6 from the line with two rebounds and one steal in the final minutes as she helped secure the win for the Wildcats.
ACU is back in action Wednesday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Houston Baptist at Moody Coliseum in the final home game of the season.
