Game Highlights | Press Conference
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - A slow start offensively to begin the third quarter dashed Abilene Christian's hopes for an upset at No. 25 Texas A&M Saturday night at Reed Arena as the Aggies pushed their season-opening winning streak to five following a 71-45 win.
ACU (3-2) shot 60 percent (12-of-20) in the first half and outrebounded the Aggies by two, 16-14, but those two categories would soon turn in the Aggies' favor after the Wildcats missed nine of their first ten second-half field goal attempts. A&M used ACU's scoring draught to its advantage by taking off on a 10-1 run, which helped the home team grab its first double-digit lead of the night at 43-32 and 2:52 remaining.
The Aggies then went ahead by 13 points at the 2:01 mark but the Wildcats battled back to cut their deficit into single digits as a
Sara Williamson 3-pointer was followed by a
Suzzy Dimba layup and free throws by
Lizzy Dimba.
Sierra Allen was the Wildcats' leading scorer tonight, contributing 12 points off the bench on 6-of-10 shooting, and it was her back-to-back baskets early in the fourth quarter that would again get the Wildcats to within six points at 49-43, but the Aggies would score the next nine points in bringing a 58-43 lead into the final media timeout.
ACU finished the game shooting 41.9 (18-43) percent led by Allen and
Lizzy Dimba's 10 points. Lizzy also had five assists while her sister, Suzzy, rejected three shots and was the team's leading rebounder with six.
A&M shot 45.0 (27-60) percent and had three players score in double figures led by Khalif Hillman's 20-point effort. The Aggies additionally made 15-of-24 shots at the free throw line and scored 25 points off 25 ACU turnovers.
ACU made its first four field goals of the game and received two free throws from
Sydney Shelstead to tie the Aggies at 10-10 heading into the first media timeout. The Wildcats, however, were hurt by nine turnovers, which led to 10 Aggie points and a four-point first quarter deficit of 18-14.
Allen scored on the Wildcats' first possession of the second quarter to get the Wildcats within a bucket, but the Aggies countered by making their first three field goal attempts – including a 3-pointer by Taylor Cooper – in pushing their advantage to seven points at 25-18. ACU then got within two possessions of the lead on a
Suzzy Dimba jumper right before the media timeout. She then was assisted by her sister, Lizzy, on the Wildcats' first attempt out of the stoppage, cutting the Aggie lead to 27-23.
ACU had a chance to get within a score following an A&M turnover, but freshman
Dominique Golightly tossed the ball right back to Cooper, who hit a fast-break layup, and the Aggies soon regained their eight-point lead on a bucket by Hillman.
From there, the Wildcats received baskets from Allen and Wright to make it a 31-27 contest and went into the break down 33-29 as Allen's fourth field goal was countered by a pair of Curtyce Knox free throws.
Allen ended the first half with eight points and came away with a big defensive rebound after Danni Williams missed a point-blank layup with time expiring.
The Wildcats continue their three-game road trip Tuesday with a 7 p.m. game at UT San Antonio. ACU and the Roadrunners are meeting for the fourth-consecutive season and UTSA has a 2-1 series lead.
