ABILENE – Abilene Christian women's basketball defeated Howard Payne, 98-43, Thursday afternoon at Moody Coliseum in front of an energized crowd of 3,500, composed mostly of AISD and ACS elementary students.
Kids arrived between 120 and 90 minutes before the 11 a.m. tip off and were immediately hyped up as the coaching staff greeted them with handfuls of free candy during an impromptu dance party in which favorites YMCA, We Will Rock You and the unforgettable Baby Shark all were played. They later received Gatti's Pizza for lunch, participated in halftime contests, and received autographs / posed for photos with the Wildcats after the game.
And when the Make Some Noise graphic appeared at the start of the second half, the decibel counter measured 98.6.
Head coach
Julie Goodenough's postgame comments
AISD's and Abilene Christian school's finest were pumped from start to finish in watching the Wildcats dismantle the Yellow Jackets (0-2) in improving to 2-0 on the season. However, it took the home team until the 3:32 mark of the first quarter to grab their first lead of the game.
These kids didn't care though. They were satisfied being out of school and just wanted to be loud and crazy while watching the offenses roll, and that's what the Yellow Jackets provided in grabbing an early 6-0 lead, hitting three of their first four field-goal attempts.
But the yowls from the crowd grew even louder as the Wildcats' mounted their comeback. ACU hit its first bucket – a Sara Williamson layup at the 7:56 mark – and then Josie Larson buried a trey right four minutes into the quarter to cut HPU's lead to 8-5.
The Wildcats soon were down again 11-5 at the first media timeout, but came out of the stoppage on fire in taking off on an 11-1 run that included a couple buckets from Lexie Ducat mixed in with a fast-break layup by Jazz Taylor. And by the end of the first ten minutes, ACU was comfortably ahead 24-13 as the Yellow Jackets missed their last three field goal attempts and whiffed on four of six free throws.
ACU continued to pad its lead throughout the second quarter thanks to a back-to-back treys from Madi Miller and Breanna Wright leading into the media timeout (5:18), which put the Wildcats ahead 36-19. That lead then ballooned to 22 points (41-19) following a wide-open three-point splash from Larson at the 4:18 mark.
The Wildcats maintained that 20-point advantage for the remainder of the half and entered the locker room ahead 48-24 with the last bucket courtesy of Alyssa Adams. The sophomore forward then forced HPU's Chelsey Harris to dribble out the clock while desperate for a shot in the paint.
HPU sank only 3-of-16 second-quarter field goals, and by halftime ACU had limited the Yellow Jackets to .296 shooting with no three pointers. The Wildcats also enjoyed a +16 rebound advantage and scored 14 points off 12 first-half turnovers.
With their starters back on the court after halftime, the Wildcats scored the first three field goals in building their lead up to 55-24 and never worried about looking back. The defense additionally created a six-minute scoring drought in holding the Yellow Jackets to eight third-quarter points.
ACU crossed 80 points on a Pam Herrera free-throw, and eclipsed 90 on a 3-point bucket by freshman Diamond Willcot. The Wildcats pushed its lead to 50 points for the first time on a jumper by Adams with 7:48 remaining, and went on to total 48 points in the paint.
The home team additionally received 50 points from its bench, 11 on the break, and 26 of the second-chance variety as it pulled down 24 offensive boards.
ACU shot .456 for the game (36-79), hitting 12 of 36 long-range attempts (.333) and 14-of-20 free throws (.700). The Wildcats were led in the point column by Ducat, who registered her first double-double in an ACU uniform, pulling down 13 rebounds to go with 14 points.
Larson was second on the club with 10 points, while seven teammates all finished between eight and nine points.
HPU finished with a .245 shooting percentage after starting the game 5-for-8. The Yellow Jackets only made one of 16 3-point attempts (.063) and missed 13 of 29 free throws (.552).
Harris was HPU's leading scorer with 12 points.
The Wildcats return to action Saturday, Nov. 17 with a 7 p.m. game vs. Eastern New Mexico. ACU and the Hounds were once rivals within the Lone Star Conference.
