ABILENE – Four players, led by junior guard
Breanna Wright's 17 points, scored in double figures in leading Abilene Christian women's basketball to a wire-to-wire, 78-46, victory over Eastern New Mexico Saturday night at Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats are now 3-0 on the season, while the Hounds fell to 2-1.
Head coach Julie Goodenough's postgame comments
Senior guard
Sara Williamson scored off the opening tip from sophomore
Makayla Mabry and the Wildcats hit three 3-pointers before the first media time out in jumping out to a 13-4 lead. They expanded their lead to 17 points (21-4) on a
Dominique Golightly layup with 1:18 to go in the first quarter; however, Eastern New Mexico would whittle that advantage down to single digits during a 12-3 run that included five field goals from five different players.
After senior Shelby Jones converted a three-point play with 2:42 left in the half, sophomore
Alyssa Adams picked off a pass that led to a Williamson layup, and then another ENMU turnover was immediately followed a Wright 3-pointer (34-20). Freshman
Madi Miller buried the Wildcats' fifth and final trey of the half with 41 seconds left (37-22) following one of two blocks by Mabry.
The Wildcats blocked seven shots with the other five courtesy of Williamson (4) and Adams (1). ACU's defense also was credited with four steals and 34 rebounds as the home team easily won the rebound battle, 54-29, and limited the Hounds to .283 shooting (17-60) – .200 (3-15) from long range.
ACU went into the break up 37-25, but the Hounds scored the first two buckets of the second half that made it a 37-29 game. That's as close though as the visitors would get as another trey from Wright sparked a 10-1 run. The Wildcats were back up by 17 points (Williamson layup) with five minutes to go, and had a 23-point lead heading into the fourth quarter after Golightly drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
ACU continued to pummel the Hounds well into the final frame, where they outscored the opposition, 18-9, with Adams responsible for nine points on 3-4 shooting (three free throws).
Adams scored her 14 points (seven rebounds) in 16 minutes off the bench. Williamson had 15 points to go along with five assists and five boards, while Golightly chipped in 10 points with seven rebounds.
Lexie Ducat once again was ACU's leading rebounder with 13.
Next up for the Wildcats is a week-long trip out west. They first play at New Mexico State Tuesday night followed by Friday / Saturday tournament action at UTEP, where they'll face Texas Southern and the host Miners.
