ABILENE – Abilene Christian women's basketball is on the road all this week for a three-game swing that will take them to New Mexico State Tuesday followed by a Friday / Saturday tournament hosted by UTEP.
The Wildcats (3-0) meet the Aggies (3-0) for a 6 p.m. MT / 7 p.m. CT contest at the Pan American Center that will air live on Fox Sports Arizona (DISH: 415 / DTV: 686) and have a midnight local tape delay on Fox Sports Southwest (DISH: 416 / DTV: 676). The game also will be carried locally by 98.1 FM – The Ticket with Zach Carlye handling the play-by-play.
New Mexico State posted an 18-13 record last season and was 11-3 within the WAC. The Aggies went on to reach the semifinals of the WAC Tournament, where they were ousted by Seattle, but later received a postseason berth from the WNIT and lost in the first round to Wyoming, 67-59.
This season, the Aggies are off to a 3-0 start with wins against UT Permian Basin, Western Michigan and UTEP.
The Miners have started this season 2-1 after finishing the 2017-18 campaign at 17-14 overall and 7-9 vs. C-USA. UTEP's wins have both been at home (Don Haskins Center) and against Alcorn State and CSU Bakersfield.
ACU will play UTEP Saturday at 7 p.m. MT / 8 p.m. CT after facing Texas Southern to tip off the the Miners' Thanksgiving Classic Friday at 1 p.m. MT / 2 p.m. CT. Southland Conference competitor Nicholls also will be in El Paso this weekend to battle the Miners and Tigers.
Texas Southern is another WNIT qualifier from last season as the Tigers went 19-13 overall and 13-5 vs. the SWAC. They lost to Grambling in the second round of their conference tournament and to Weber State in the first round of the WNITs.
This year the Tigers are 1-1 as the followed a six-point loss to Tulane with a 29-point triumph over Paul Quinn College. Texas Southern will play at Rice Tuesday night before making the trip to UTEP.
ACU's 3-0 start is marked by a +43.3 scoring margin and +21.7 rebounding average as the Wildcats averaged 88.7 points and 51.0 rebounds per game vs. Southwest, Howard Payne and Eastern New Mexico.
Junior guard
Breanna Wright is the Wildcats' leading scored with 16.7 ppg (.552) and is off to an 11-for-12 start from the free-throw line (.917). Newcomer
Lexie Ducat is averaging a team best 10.0 rebounds per game with 6.77 ppg.
Overall, the Wildcats are shooting 47.3 percent from the floor and 36.8 percent from 3-point range. They've also blocked 16 shots and assisted on 66 of 97 field goals (68 percent).
