Box Score HUNTSVILLE – Needing a win to keep their hopes alive for a second straight Southland Conference regular-season championship, the ACU Wildcats wasted little time putting Sam Houston State away Saturday afternoon, jumping out to a huge early lead and coasting to a 72-39 win over the Bearkats at Johnson Coliseum.
The win for the Wildcats pushes them to 20-8 overall and 14-2 in the Southland, while Sam Houston fell to 3-23 and 3-13. ACU – ineligible for the Southland Conference Post-Season Tournament because of transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I affiliation – is tied in the loss column for the conference lead with Central Arkansas. The Sugar Bears knocked off Stephen F. Austin, 70-58, Saturday in Conway, Ark., to move to 15-2 in league play.
ACU will be back in action Wednesday evening at 5:20 p.m. in the final regular-season home game for the Wildcats' four seniors:
Alexis Mason,
Lizzy Dimba,
Suzzy Dimba and
Sydney Shelstead. Central Arkansas is off Wednesday night, so a win by the Wildcats over the Cardinals would pull the Wildcats even with the Sugar Bears at 15-2 going into the final regular-season game of the year for both teams.
The Wildcats will be in Houston next Saturday to take on Houston Baptist, while Central Arkansas will be in Natchitoches, La., to take on Northwestern State. One loss by ACU will clinch the title for UCA, while a loss for UCA and two wins for ACU will give the Wildcats their second straight league title and clinch the league's berth into the Women's NIT for the second straight year.
Saturday's game provided little suspense as the Wildcats outscored the Bearkats 17-2 in the first quarter in a game in which they never trailed. ACU's lead grew to as many as 27 points in the second quarter (36-9) on a layup by Shelstead with 2:50 left in the first half.
The Wildcats' first 30-point lead of the game came with 8:04 left in the game when Mason hit a 3-pointer to give her team a 63-31 lead. ACU's biggest lead of the game was 34 points (69-35) with 3:26 left in the game on a layup by Taudencia Oluoch.
Mason led all scorers with 16 points (5 of 13 from 3-point range), while
Suzzy Dimba had 12 points and five rebounds,
Lizzy Dimba 10 points and seven rebounds, and Shelstead 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Wildcats' win gives them their third 20-win season in head coach
Julie Goodenough's five seasons at the helm. Goodenough is 102-43 in her five seasons with the Wildcats, including 81-31 with the four seniors the Wildcats will honor Wednesday night.
