ABILENE - Abilene Christian women's basketball delivered a performance expected of the defending Southland Conference regular-season champions by demolishing DIII McMurry from start to finish on both sides of the court in a 97-46 exhibition win Monday at Moody Coliseum.
Fans from both schools entered the gym with high energy and were treated to a suffocating Wildcat defense that blocked three shots, pulled down eight rebounds, and limited the War Hawks to 1 of 13 (7.7 percent) shooting from the field all in the first 10 minutes. The Wildcats by comparison made 9 of their first 18 field goals, including a pair of treys from freshmen
Dominique Golightly and
Pamela Herrera, and went into the second quarter ahead 24-4.
ACU then posted its best shooting percentage of the night in the second quarter, making 11 of 19 attempts (57.9), as
Sydney Shelstead scored nine of her 13 points on 4-of-4 shooting, while
Alexis Mason dished out five of her seven assists.
The Wildcats went into halftime with a comfortable 51-19 lead and went on to outscore the War Hawks 24-10 in the third quarter and 22-17 in the final period.
Four of ACU's five starters all scored in double figures led by Mason and
Suzzy Dimba's 15 points; however, one of the most impressive all-around performances was delivered by sophomore
Sara Williamson who scored 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting with eight assists in only 15 minutes.
Mason additionally tied
Lizzy Dimba for the team lead in rebounds with eight, finishing three assists and two rebounds shy of a triple-double.
ACU outshot its neighbors 52.2 to 32.7 percent for the game and was successful on 37.5 percent (12-32) of its 3-point tries.
Suzzy Dimba knocked down three treys during the game, while three freshmen buried two, including starting point guard
Breanna Wright who totaled 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Skyler Reyna led the War Hawks with 13 points thanks to three 3-pointers in the second half.
The Wildcats officially open their 2016-17 season Friday at Missouri for their first-round Preseason WNIT game. Tip off is at 7 p.m., and the game will be carried by both ESPN3 and SEC Network +.
