ABILENE – Abilene Christian women's basketball begins its 48th season and seventh under head coach
Julie Goodenough Friday when her Wildcats play host to College of the Southwest. Tip-off time for the annual Purple Out game is set for 5:30 p.m., and will be followed by the men's contest vs. Arkansas State.
ACUSports.com additionally will offer
live stats and
video stream to accompany
Grant Boone's play-by-play that also can be heard on
98.1 FM – The Ticket.
The Wildcats are 408-136 (.764) at Moody Coliseum with two of those victories coming against the Mustangs, an NAIA team based in Hobbs, N.M. which is a member of the Red River Conference. ACU first played Southwest four games into the 2015-16 season, scoring a 91-39 victory, and again last season, winning 91-47 on Opening Night.
Several single-game career highs were set that night against the Mustangs, and
Dominique Golightly registered her first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Five players overall reached double figures in scoring, and the Wildcat bench outscored their starters, 46-45, marking the first time this feat was accomplished since the Nov. 29, 2017 game at UTSA (35-33).
ACU's 67 rebounds vs. the Mustangs tied its D1 era single-game record as the Wildcats also pulled down 67 board vs. Incarnate Word on March 1, 2017.
Last year's win over Southwest lifted the Wildcats' Opening Night record to 29-18, and the team has not lost a home season opener since 2009 when they fell 69-66 to St. Mary's.
Julie Goodenough | Southland Conference Media Day Interview
2018-19 Team Notes
• Within the space of one season, Abilene Christian shifted from having one of the youngest rosters in all of NCAA women's basketball to one of the division's most experienced. The Wildcats return all but three of last year's 12 letter winners plus four starters.
• Junior guard
Breanna Wright, who ranked first in the Southland Conference and 18th nationally with a .874 free-throw percentage, has appeared in all 62 career games while averaging 34 minutes per game. Her 36.37 mpg last season ranked 58th among all D1 players.
• Former Rice student-athletes
Lexie Ducat and
Jazz Taylor are expected to make an immediate impact. The two last played together during the 2016-17 season when the Owls finished with a 22-13 record. Ducat – a 6-1 forward – started 24 games that season and averaged 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.
• Ducat and Taylor are two of seven newcomers on this year's roster, which also includes Louisiana Tech transfer
Anna McLeod and high school prospects
Jenna Cooper,
Madi Miller,
Kamryn Mraz, and
Diamond Willcot. Cooper, a two-time Texas 2A Player of the Year, set a tournament record last spring with 22 rebounds in the state semifinals.
• ACU once again was the league's leader in several 3-point categories in addition to being tops in blocks. The 2017-18 Wildcats blocked 125 shots to finish 88th nationally, and their 8.9 3-point field goals per game ranked 18th among all NCAA D1 schools.
JG25
• A veteran head coach with 25 years of experience – and conference champion at the NAIA, DI, DII and DIII levels –
Julie Goodenough has led the Wildcats to four postseason appearances in six seasons (2013 Lone Star and NCAA D2, 2016 and 2017 WNIT, 2018 Southland).
• Goodenough's ACU record is 121-58 (.676) and following the Wildcats' 78-56 win over Sam Houston State on Feb. 4, 2017 she passed Wayne Williams for fourth place on the school's all-time win list. Later than month she won her 100th game as a Wildcat – at Northwestern State on Feb. 28 2017.
• She won her 300th game as a collegiate head coach on Jan. 15, 2013, and claimed win No. 400 in Las Vegas on Dec. 22, 2017 vs. the Lady Monarchs.
• Goodenough is 410-278 (.596) in 24 years of collegiate coaching with 188 of those wins coming in her nine seasons at Hardin-Simmons University.
• ACU's Jan. 2 game at New Orleans will serve as the 700th in Goodenough's head coaching career.
