Women's Basketball | 3/4/2016 2:01:00 PM
Game Notes Live Stats | Audio | Video ABILENE – Abilene Christian's historic 2015-16 regular season reaches its conclusion Saturday when the Wildcats – who recently accepted an invitation to the WNIT – play host to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which needs to win and get some help in order to make next week's Southland's postseason tournament.
The game will air in Abilene on 98.1 FM – The Ticket and live stats and a video stream will be available on the schedule page at ACUSports.com. 'The Voice of the Wildcats'
Grant Boone will call the play-by-play action from Moody Coliseum, where the Wildcats remain undefeated this season at 13-0. ACU also has the seventh-longest active home winning streak among all NCAA DI teams at 16 games.
Following their 66-58 win over Incarnate Word, the Wildcats (25-3, 16-1 Southland) claimed at least a share of the league's title with Central Arkansas. But because ACU defeated the Sugar Bears earlier this season, 61-49, the WNIT organizers Thursday declared the Wildcats as their automatic qualifier from the Southland Conference.
Reaching the WNIT was one of the Wildcats' season-long goals, but they're still determined to claim sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference. And to do that, they'll have to again beat a Corpus Christi team that is 10-18 overall and sits a half game out of a playoff position at 6-11. Right ahead of the Islanders in the conference standings are 7-10 Sam Houston State and Nicholls, and 7-11 Lamar, which lost its season finale Wednesday vs. the Bearkats, 78-75.
ACU won its first game against the Islanders on the road, 71-65, on Feb. 17, three days after junior forward
Lizzy Dimba suffered a season-ending injury. In her absence, the Wildcats received a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double from
Sydney Shelstead, a career-high 25 points from
Suzzy Dimba, and a combined 30 points from guards
Alexis Mason (19 points) and
Whitney West Swinford (11 points).
Suzzy Dimba has been tremendous all season and even more so during the past five games in which she's been averaging 17.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game to go along with 17 blocks, 12 steals and 11 assists – numbers which should help her earn Southland Defensive Player of the Year honors. Wednesday against the Cardinals, she scored 19 points to give her 1,000 for her career, and blocked a school single-game record seven shots.
The previous record of six was held by several Wildcats, including Kelsey Smith, who posted six rejections against UIW on Jan, 15, 2013.
While the game against the Islanders will certainly be physically tough, the Wildcats also will have to prepare themselves emotionally as they go into their final home game with senior guards Swinford and
Paris Webb.
Both veterans will be recognized alongside their families during a pregame ceremony.
Webb joined the Wildcats at the start of the 2014 season following a decorated two-year career at Central Arizona and has been of tremendous benefit to the team whether serving as a starter or reserve.
Webb played in all but two games as a junior and ranked among the Southland leaders in assists and steals. In her five starts this season – filling in for the injured
Lizzy Dimba – she's provided the Wildcats with 20 assists and 18 rebounds while averaging 32.0 minutes per game.
Webb is a pre-dental major and will be named to her second consecutive Southland Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll later this spring.
Swinford is the team's lone holdover from its days in the Lone Star Conference, and she was met with immediate success in that league as the Wildcats won the conference title and she took home Freshman of the Year honors. From there she became a constant presence in the Wildcats' starting lineup, missing only one game in the past three years, while accumulating 1,100 points, 285 assists and the second-most 3-pointers in team history with 229.
Following the win over Incarnate Word, Swinford earned the additional distinction of becoming the first ACU student-athlete to win both a Lone Star and Southland Conference team championship.
Swinford is majoring in family studies and twice has been named to the Southland Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll.
