ABILENE - Abilene Christian's senior class combined for 72 points in the Wildcats' 89-73 victory over Nicholls Wednesday night at Stopher Gymnasium.
Alexis Mason led all scorers with 24 points. Suzzy Dimba scored 19 points with six assists, while
Lizzy Dimba and
Sydney Shelstead each registered a double-double as ACU improved to 4-1 all time vs. the Colonels.
ACU (11-7, 5-1 Southland) tonight posted one of its best offensive games of the season, shooting 54.4 percent from the field (31-57) and 47.6 percent from the 3-point arc (10-21). Mason knocked down 6-of-12 long-range attempts for the second straight game in padding her varsity record for 3-pointers made (248) and
Suzzy Dimba dropped in four treys as part of a 6-for-10 performance.
Mason has scored 56 points the last two games – including a career-high 32 points Saturday vs. Lamar – having made 18-of-34 shots from the floor and 12-of-24 from 3-point range.
Lizzy Dimba's 14th career double-double was composed of 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 10 rebounds, and Shelstead came through with 13 points (6-12) and a game-high 12 rebounds. Incredibly,
Lizzy Dimba and Shelstead combined to outrebound the entire Nicholls' roster, 22-19.
ACU's overall rebounding margin tonight of +24 (43-19) played a big role in the Wildcats' second-half comeback as they outscored the Colonels in the paint, 20-4, in the second half, and their 17-6 advantage on the offensive glass led to 24 second-chance points.
The Wildcats entered halftime down one point, 39-38, but dominated all areas of the third quarter in which they scored 16 of their 25 points in the paint. Nicholls scored the first bucket of the second half – a 3-pointer by Emani White – that put the home team ahead, 42-38, but the Wildcats countered with a game-changing 16-0 run.
ACU began its run with three consecutive layups, and following a missed jumper by White, freshman Breanna Wright assisted
Suzzy Dimba on one of her four 3-pointers. Shelstead then hit another layup to push the Wildcat lead to 49-42, and Mason capped the run with five-straight points.
Wright led the Wildcats with seven assists.
Suzzy Dimba buried another trey with just under two minutes remaining to give ACU its largest lead of the quarter at 13 points, 59-46, but Nicholls battled back with consecutive 3-pointers from Hope Pawlowski, who scored 23 points off the Colonels' bench. The Wildcats, however, would quickly recover and scored the final four points on baskets by
Sierra Allen (six points) and Mason.
ACU sealed the victory in the fourth quarter by making 5-of-9 field goals, two of which were from beyond the arc, in addition to hitting 14-of-15 free-throw attempts. Nicholls also had a good night at the charity stripe, sinking their first 18 free throws before White missed the last one she shot with 54 seconds remaining in the game.
The Wildcats are off this weekend, but will resume their road swing next Thursday with a 5:30 p.m. game at Incarnate Word.
