ACU at Central Arkansas:
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Game Notes
ABILENE - The Southland Conference's two-longest current winning streaks will be put on the line Wednesday night when first place Abilene Christian (15-7, 9-1) visits second-place Central Arkansas (17-4, 9-2). Tip off at the Farris Center in Conway, Ark., is set for 7 p.m., and the game featuring the defending regular-season and conference tournament champions will air locally on 98.1 FM – The Ticket with
Grant Boone handling the play-by-play.
ACU has won its last six games to move atop the Southland Conference standings, while the Sugar Bears – winners of eight straight – haven't suffered a loss since dropping an 83-76 decision at Moody Coliseum on Jan. 7. Senior forward
Suzzy Dimba led the Wildcats that afternoon on ESPN3 as she poured in a career-high 28 points, and her twin sister, Lizzy, finished with 20 points and six rebounds.
Suzzy Dimba hit 9 of 15 shots from the field, hit all six of her free throws, pulled down 11 rebounds, had one assist, blocked three shots and had one steal, and Lizzy hit 7 of 11 shots. Overall, the Dimbas combined to hit 8 of 10 shots from beyond the arc, and their teammates combined to hit 5 of 13 as ACU blistered the nets from 3-point range to the tune of 13 of 26 (50 percent).
Alexis Mason hit a pair of 3-pointers and
Breanna Wright and
Dominique Golightly each hit one for the Wildcats.
The first half was a nip-and-tuck affair with ACU holding a 36-30 lead at the break before the Wildcats dominated the third quarter (28-15) to extend its lead to 64-45 at the end of the quarter. ACU's lead was 40-35 before the Wildcats ran off a 24-10 run over the final 7:30 of the third quarter to push its lead to 19 points.
UCA then went on a 16-8 run near the end of regulation to cut the Wildcats' lead to just seven points (81-74) with 25 seconds to play. Kierra Jordan, who had a game-high 21 points off the bench for UCA, had nine points in the run to get the Sugar Bears back into the game. But ACU got a stop in the final 13 seconds and Mason hit a pair of free throws, and that was enough distance for the Wildcats to be able to get the win and stay perfect in conference play.
Since this defeat, the Sugar Bears have arguably been the best team in the Southland Conference even though the top four teams (ACU, UCA, Lamar and Stephen F. Austin) are separated by one game or less in the standings. Central Arkansas started its winning streak with back-to-back road wins at Houston Baptist and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and later swept a season series from McNeese to go along with victories vs. New Orleans, SFA and Southeastern Louisiana. The Ladyjacks were previously undefeated in league play prior to their 67-63 loss at home to UCA.
ACU last saw the court Saturday afternoon when it dominated Sam Houston State, 78-56, in their first meeting of the season. The Wildcats have now won their last four vs. Sam Houston and are 5-1 against the Bearkats since joining the Southland Conference for the 2013-14 season.
The ACU defense limited Sam Houston State to an opponent season low of 20 points in the first half, and took a 49-20 lead into halftime. Offensively, all four Wildcat seniors reached double figures in scoring led by 16 points from Mason and
Lizzy Dimba.
Sydney Shelstead posted a 12-point/12-rebound double-double, while sophomore
Sara Williamson (7) and freshman Wright (4) combined for 11 of the team's 23 assists.
