STILLWATER, Okla. –
Suzzy Dimba scored a team-high 14 points Thursday night to lead five ACU Wildcats in double figures and the Wildcats captured the ACU Athletics program's first NCAA Division I postseason victory as they knocked off Oklahoma State, 66-56, in the first round of the WNIT at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The game marked the return of ACU head coach
Julie Goodenough to the school where she served as the head coach for three seasons from 2002-05. But Thursday night's game was about more than Goodenough, who picked up her 105th win in just five seasons at ACU. Instead it was about an ACU team that rebounded from a 10-point deficit early in the first quarter (down 13-3) to take a 16-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Wildcats pushed the lead to 28-23 at halftime, thanks in part to a banked-in 3-pointer at the buzzer by
Alexis Mason, and they would never trail in the second half. Senior
Sydney Shelstead scored eight of her 12 points in the third quarter, and the Wildcats stretched their lead out to as many as 13 points on several occasions in the final 11 minutes.
"I focused on finishing and attacking them on defense," said Shelstead, "and I think they played a little scared because they were in some foul trouble. We knew if we did what we do best, things would turn out well for us. We knew if we played good defense that our defensive effort would help us win the game."
Each time the Cowgirls threatened to get back into the game, Shelstead was there to collect a loose ball rebound, one of the Dimbas – Suzzy or Lizzy – picked up a steal, Mason grabbed a key rebound or freshman Breanna Wright was on the spot for a key bucket.
In fact, when OSU cut the lead to 61-53 with 1:43 to play and the Cowgirls appeared to be ready make a miraculous last-ditch run at the Wildcats,
Suzzy Dimba came with a big defensive rebound on end and scored on the other end on a breakaway layup to make it a 63-53 lead with 1:04 to play.
Mason – who drilled a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter after OSU had cut ACU's lead to nine points – hit a pair of free throws with 40 seconds to play and
Lizzy Dimba hit 1 of 2 free throws with 34 seconds left for the final ACU points of the game.
"It was great to be back here," said Goodenough, whose team has knocked off two Big 12 teams over the past four seasons. "What an awesome arena for our players to experience, and I couldn't be any prouder of the way our players handled themselves. They believed in the game plan and executed it.
"Our defense was really good," Goodenough continued. "It certainly helped when Kaylee Jensen (26 points, seven rebounds) got into foul trouble and they had to take her out. But we made them work to get the ball into her, and that took its toll. I'm really proud of how we got after them on the boards (ACU owned a 37-30 edge on the glass), even though they were bigger, stronger and faster. We had a championship effort from a great championship team."
Suzzy Dimba finished with 14 points, three rebounds, one assist and three steals, and her sister,
Lizzy Dimba, had 12 points, four rebounds, one assist and four steals. Shelstead finished with 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Mason had 10 points and seven rebounds. Wright – the freshman point guard who has started 30 of the Wildcats' 31 games this season – was terrific, finishing with 11 points, including a pair of huge 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Wright's second trey of the first quarter cut the Cowgirls' lead to 13-8 as the Wildcats held the home team to one field goal over the final 6:44. The Jarrell, Texas, native also played all 40 minutes for her fourth complete game of the season and turned ball over just once. Only
Suzzy Dimba (8) has more career complete games than the freshman point guard.
Junior
Sierra Allen and sophomore
Sara Williamson were key contributors off the bench. Allen played 16 minutes and hit two big field goals in the second quarter to maintain a four-point Wildcat lead, while Williamson's lone bucket was the first scored of the fourth quarter, giving ACU a 10-point lead with 8:52 remaining. Williamson additionally pulled down a defensive rebound and kept the ball in the Wildcats' possession, chasing down a loose ball at the baseline after OSU went into a full-court press.
The Wildcats (23-8) will now move on to the second round where they will play either SMU or Louisiana Tech, who will play each other Friday night. Neither the date nor the time for that second-round game has been determined, but the Wildcats know they will be on the road to either Dallas or Ruston, La., for the game. If the Wildcats play at Louisiana Tech, the game will be played Sunday at 6 p.m.
