Women's Basketball | 11/16/2016 2:28:00 PM
Friday, Nov. 18
ACU vs. Omaha:
Live Stats |
Video |
Audio |
Game Notes
North Texas vs. UTRGV:
Live Stats
Saturday, Nov. 19
Omaha vs. North Texas or UTRGV:
Live Stats
ACU vs. North Texas or UTRGV:
Live Stats |
Video |
Audio
ABILENE - Abilene Christian basketball will play host to its most significant and distinguished tournament in decades this Friday and Saturday when the Preseason WNIT brings Omaha, North Texas and UT Rio Grande Valley to Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats (1-1) tip off the four-game consolation bracket with a 6 p.m. game vs. Omaha (0-1), while game two will pit the Vaqueros of UT Rio Grande Valley (0-1) against the Mean Green of North Texas (0-1) at 8 p.m.. ACU will again play its second game Saturday at 6 p.m., and Omaha will have the 4 p.m. game.
Live stats will be offered for all four contests, however, only the games involving the Wildcats will be live streamed and carried locally on 98.1 FM - The Ticket.
The per day
ticket prices are set for $12 for adults and $7 for children (K-8), but season ticket holders can get in at half price, and the first 500 people to show their ACU faculty / staff or student IDs will receive
FREE admission. ACU / WNIT rally towels also will be distributed prior to each game, and at halftime, several students will receive an opportunity to win a $300 gift card by making a half-court shot.
The Wildcats were dropped into the consolation bracket after losing 52-46 last Friday at No. 24 Missouri but bounced back strong Tuesday night with a 87-52 victory over their regional foes from Howard Payne. The Tigers, meanwhile, went on to beat Nebraksa, 55-35, in the Preseason WNIT second round and will face Washington Thursday night in the semifinals.
Abilene Christian certainly took the sting out of the Ladyjackets by shooting 47.3 percent (35-74) from the floor and pulling down 60 rebounds, which were its most since recording 61 vs. Texas Wesleyan in December of 2013. The Wildcats also finished with a +36 rebound margin – their largest since moving into DI and highest since posting a +32 margin against Northwood during the 2013-14 season.
Four Wildcats scored in double figures led by double-doubles from starter
Sydney Shelstead (20/11) and reserve
Sierra Allen (12/13). Allen's 13 rebounds set a new single-game high as she became the first Wildcat to post a double-double off the bench since Madison Parker did so in a Nov. 2014 game vs. Howard Payne.
Omaha is in the start of its sixth year as a NCAA DI program and found its way to the Key City after starting their season with a first-round Preseason WNIT loss to Colorado State, 69-42. Last year's Mavericks went 15-15 and reached the semis of the Summit League Championship, where they fell to South Dakota State, 76-60. They went 7-9 in conference play a year ago vs. the Summit League, which they joined following 32 years in the North Central Conference and three as members of the MIAA (2008-11).
ACU and Omaha have played only once before, and that was a 93-77 victory for the Mavericks early in the 1986-87 season.
Separated by 526 miles of highway through the heart of Texas, UT Rio Grande Valley and North Texas will play in the second game of Friday's doubleheader at approximately 8 p.m. The Vaqueros went 19-14 overall last year and lost the WAC final to top-seeded New Mexico State, 80-53, sending them into the Postseason WNIT where they fell to TCU, 97-73. North Texas went 11-19 a year ago and made it as far as the second round of the Conference USA Tournament, where they lost 62-55 to Old Dominion.
The Mean Green were eliminated from the Preseason WNIT Championship bracket last week by Little Rock, 55-44, and UTRGV was knocked into the consolation bracket by Nebraska, 71-53.
The Wildcats have yet to meet UTRGV, and last played the Mean Green in Nov. of 2013, losing 64-50 at The Super Pit.
