WICHITA, Kan. - Abilene Christian women's basketball guaranteed itself a 'Very Murray Christmas' after outscoring the Murray State Racers, 27-10, in the fourth quarter en route to a convincing 81-57 victory Saturday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena as part of the Shocker Winter Classic hosted by Wichita State.
The win lifted ACU's season record to 5-6 while the Racers fell to 7-5. The Wildcats are now off from competition to celebrate Christmas with their families and will return to action Wednesday, Dec. 28 for a 2 p.m. home game vs. Sul Ross State – its final non-conference contest.
The Wildcats led by as many as 14 points during the first quarter but the Racers refused to shrink from the challenge and climbed back into the game by outscoring ACU, 20-11, in the second quarter. A pair of
Sara Williamson free throws gave the Wildcats a nine-point lead at 34-25 with 1:29 remaining in the first half, however, the Racers quickly cut into that lead with a Jasmine Borders' 3-pointer and buzzer beater layup by Bria Bethea.
ACU began to pull away once more at the start of the third quarter, making four of its six first field goal attempts to push its lead out to 11 points at 43-32. But another Borders' 3-pointer and three-point play by Bethea once again made it a two-possession game, and on the Wildcats' final possession of the third quarter the Racers forced a turnover that led to Daniella Pisano's jumper at the horn.
Entering the fourth quarter with a seven-point lead at 54-47, the Wildcats got off to a bit of a slow start offensively. They missed their first two shots from the floor within the first three minutes in addition to turning the ball of over twice, the last of which resulted in a Ke'Shunan James fast-break layup that made it a six-point game at 55-49.
Then the Wildcats took off on a game-changing run in which they scored 10 consecutive points in just over two minutes.
Suzzy Dimba hit back-to-back layups around a Pisano free throw that gave the Wildcats a nine-point lead, then
Breanna Wright sank her first bucket of the game following a missed 3-pointer from Borders. Shelstead came away with a steal on Murray State's next possession and fed the ball up court to
Alexis Mason, whose layup gave the Wildcats their largest lead since the end of the first quarter at 13-points, 63-50.
ACU continued to pile on the points after a Murray State time out as
Suzzy Dimba forced a steal and score, then her sister, Lizzy, poked the ball away from Kyra Gulledge that led to yet another basket from Suzzy as the twins each finished with a 14 points.
Defensively, the Wildcats held the Racers scoreless for the better part of four minutes (7:02 to 2:42) during this stretch and put the game on ice after freshman
Dominique Golightly buried a 3-pointer from the corner in finishing with six points. ACU refused to let off the gas as consecutive layups by
Sara Williamson made it a 23 point game, and then freshman
Lexi Kirgan made her lone bucket with four seconds left on the clock.
ACU's bench outscored Murray State, 32-19, as the Wildcats once again received a tremendous effort from junior
Sierra Allen, who scored a game-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
Alexis Mason followed up her 22-point performance from Friday vs. Wichita State with 11 points today, going 5-of-14 from the field, and Shelstead totaled eight points with seven rebounds and career high four assists.
Lizzy Dimba added 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season, while Suzzy pulled down eight to go along with five steals.
With three 3-pointers, Borders led her side with 13 points followed by Bethea, who scored 12 points off the bench. James chipped in 11 points and dished out four assists.
