ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats held Harding to just 10 fourth-quarter points Saturday afternoon to break open a tight game on their way to a 74-62 win over the Bisons in Moody Coliseum, snapping a four-game losing streak in the process.
The Wildcats are now 4-5 on the season, while Harding – a member of the NCAA Division II Great American Conference – falls to 6-3 as ACU improved to 4-1 all-time against Harding. ACU will be back in action Friday (Dec. 16) in Wichita, Kan., when they take on the Wichita State Shockers at 7 p.m.
Saturday's game in Abilene was a five-point game (57-52 ACU) at the end of three quarters before ACU finally began to wear down the Bisons. Harding scored the first basket of the fourth quarter on a layup by Caroline Hogue to cut ACU's lead to 57-54 with 9:59 to play, but the Bisons wouldn't score again until Falan Miller hit a jumper with 4:49 left to cut the ACU lead to 67-56.
In the 10-0 run for the Wildcats,
Alexis Mason had five points on a 3-pointer and a layup, while
Sierra Allen and
Sydney Shelstead added two points apiece and Pam Herrera one point. The Wildcats' lead did not dip below 10 points the rest of the way as the Wildcats were able to hold off Harding.
Mason – playing in just her fourth game of the season after coming from off-season knee surgery – had a season-high 18 points on 7 of 18 shooting from the floor (4 of 14 from 3-point range). She scored 13 of those game-high 18 points in the second half, including 10 in the second half.
Allen had 15 points and two rebounds for the Wildcats, while
Suzzy Dimba recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three assists and two steals in 26 minutes.
Sydney Shelstead added 11 points and eight rebounds in just 18 minutes.
