ACU vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi:
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ABILENE - All fans are encouraged to wear pink for Wednesday night's Abilene Christian women's basketball game vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi as the Wildcats hold their annual
Play4Kay night. The Wildcats and Islanders tip off at 5:30 p.m. and can be heard locally on 981. FM – The Ticket with
Grant Boone handling the play-by-play.
The Kay in Play4Kay is Olympic and Naismith Hall of Fame coach Kay Yow, who died from breast cancer in January of 2009 following a 20-plus year battle. Yow was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and it was the recurrence of her disease in 2004 that sparked the 'pink phenomenon' in women's basketball. Several years later this movement resulted in the establishment of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund and its fundraising initiative known as Play4Kay.
Because of financial support from Play4Kay events across the country, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund has awarded over $5 million for scientific research and projects assisting the underserved in all women's cancers.
During last year's Play4Kay game, the women's basketball team honored Sue Williamson – the mother of sophomore guard
Sara Williamson – who had been battling breast cancer since the fall of 2015. ACU Athletics also set up a GoFundMe.com page to help the Williamson family cover their medical expenses. Thankfully, Sue finished her chemotherapy and radiation treatments nine months after the initial diagnosis, and this past fall she and her family received the good news that there was no evidence of cancer in her body.
The women's basketball team currently is selling pink t-shirts to the public in the campus center for a donation of $5, and will be wearing neon pink long-sleeved t-shirts during tomorrow's warm ups. There also will be a Play4Kay informational table set up in the foyer to help raise awareness of women's cancers.
The Wildcats are playing at home for the better part of a week, where they are 11-2 this season, and come into this game with overall and Southland Conference records of 18-8 and 11-2 – a half game behind league-leading Central Arkansas (12-2).
ACU was able to keep pace with the Sugar Bears by going 2-0 on their recent road trip, which included victories at Stephen F. Austin (80-73) and Northwestern State (75-74). The victory vs. the Lady Demons served as the 100th of
Julie Goodenough's career as the Wildcats' head coach and was ACU's first win at Prather Coliseum, but it certainly did not come easy as the lead changed hands four times in the last eight seconds.
A lob pass into
Sydney Shelstead put the Wildcats ahead 73-72 with six seconds left, and then Libba Gillam hit 2-of-3 free throws to bring the lead back to Northwestern State with two seconds remaining. Shelstead was fouled under the basket on ACU's final possession and made both free throws with just 0.6 seconds remaining.
A native of Mineral Wells, Texas, Shelstead led her side with 18 points, and with 12 rebounds she posted her seventh double-double of the season and 26th of career. Her three classmates also scored in double figures as Alex Mason totaled 16,
Lizzy Dimba had 17 and
Suzzy Dimba finished with 10.
In the first meeting between the Wildcats and Islanders this season, ACU bounced back from a 19-8 first quarter deficit to defeat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 72-59, at the American Bank Center. The Wildcats outscored the Islanders 64-40 over the final three quarters and shot 50 percent for the fifth time this season.
ACU also set a season low with 10 turnovers, and the four seniors all reached double figures in scoring: Mason (19),
Lizzy Dimba (14),
Suzzy Dimba (13), Shelstead (12). Freshman
Breanna Wright totaled nine points on 3-4 shooting from 3-point range.
The Islanders (9-16, 5-9 Southland) have lost their last two and four of their last five games since starting the month with a loss to the Wildcats. Brittany Mbamalu is their leading scorer with 9.2 points per game, and Camesha Davis is their leading rebounder with 5.9 boards per game.
Corpus Christi enters this week hanging onto the No. 7 seed in the upcoming Southland Conference Championship Tournament.
