ABILENE – Fresh off cracking the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top-25 poll for the first time in program history, the Abilene Christian women's basketball team utilized a superb second-half defensive effort to pull away from McNeese State and win 79-62 Wednesday night at Moody Coliseum.
The win was ACU's ninth straight as the Wildcats improved to 13-2 overall, 4-0 within the Southland Conference and 7-0 at home, while the Cowgirls, who came into tonight's game tied for second place, fell to 10-6 and 2-2.
McNeese shot .269 (18-67) for the game but only trailed by a point at halftime, 37-36, scoring close to half its points from the foul line (17-for-19). After the break, however, the Wildcats' defense allowed only two free throws and held the Cowgirls' leading scorer Jayln Johnson to only seven second-half points on 3-10 shooting.
Johnson went into the break with 18 points and finished with a team-high 25 points. But none of Johnson's teammates could come close to matching her performance with Allison Baggett (3-12) and Victoria Rachal (3-13) tying for second on McNeese with seven points.
"McNeese has a tremendous team with some of the best players in the league and to beat them at home and overcome some moments of adversity was big for us," said head coach
Julie Goodenough. "Beating or even slowing down Johnson or Northwestern State's Janelle Perez like we did last week is almost impossible."
Southland teams may also be feeling the same way about junior guard
Alexis Mason, whose follow-up performance to being named Player of the Week included 26 points on 9-17 shooting with two 3-pointers and six free throws.
One of Mason's two treys was a 25-foot buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter, which pushed ACU's lead out to 55-48.
"We run a full-court shot drill in practice and I've seen her take that shot several times this week and I'm glad it was in her hands to finish the third quarter," said Goodenough. "The reaction from our fans made us feel like we had won the game."
"I wasn't trying to make it," added Mason. "I was just trying to get it off in time. It went in and proved to be a huge momentum swing for us."
It certainly was for Mason as she scored 11 fourth-quarter points and 20 of her game-high 26 points in the second half.
Sydney Shelstead also had a big game offensively with a 22-point / 12-rebound effort, and
Suzzy Dimba registered the 25th double-double off her career with 11-points / 11-rebounds. She also had one of the team's six blocks, while Shelstead and freshman
Sara Williamson each recorded two rejections.
With so many Wildcat starters in foul trouble after the first half it was imperative that the bench contribute some quality minutes. And they did.
Williamson had the two big stops in addition to a pair of assists in her 12 minutes of action. Sophomore
Alyssa Echols stole a pass that led to an easy layup for
Suzzy Dimba early in the second quarter and near the end of the half knocked down a pair of free throws one minute after McNeese took its first and only lead of the game.
Senior
Paris Webb spelled guards Mason and
Whitney West Swinford for 14 minutes, and sophomore
Sierra Allen gave the post players some rest with 13 minutes of playing time.
"We called on our bench players early tonight and they did a good job," said Goodenough. "McNeese went to the foul line way too many times in the first half, especially in the second quarter (13-14), so we were fortunate to be up a point at halftime. And from there we still played aggressively despite having so many starters in foul trouble.
"The bench really kept us in the game and the crowd was great once again too," added Goodenough. "They were cheering on us, and even for the bat that flying around on what was a crazy night in Moody."
Late in the first quarter the game was delayed for close to 20 minutes as a bat swooped around the court with
Lizzy Dimba (11 points / seven rebounds) preparing to take the second of her two free throws and the Wildcats ahead 17-11. With no protocol in place, several members of staff attempted to corral the 'winged avenger' with the teams on the bench until the head coaches convinced the officiating staff to let their teams finish the quarter.
"I think we started the game a little out of rhythm and the bat didn't help," said Mason, "but we persevered in the second half and got it done after it got a bit too close."
McNeese was outrebounded, 48-39, for the game. The Wildcats came through with 35 defensive rebounds to 24 for McNeese and outscored the Cowgirls in the paint by 20 points, 38-18.
ACU returns to action Saturday at 4 p.m. at Stephen F. Austin for the start of a three-game Southland road trip. SFA defeated the Wildcats in overtime at Moody Coliseum last winter. This year's match will shown on ESPN3.
