ABILENE – A dozen Wildcats played Saturday. A dozen Wildcats scored Saturday. The ACU women's basketball team picked up its third straight win as it heads into Southland Conference play next week after topping the Schreiner Mountaineers, 110-37. The Wildcats' (7-1) 73-point win is the third-largest margin of victory in school history, and the largest of the Division I era. Three Wildcats tallied career days in the win.
Turning Point
- In a game ACU knew it would win, the key is to get off to a good start. Mission accomplished. ACU led 13-0 to start the game led by six straight points from senior
Breanna Wright. ACU never looked back and led 27-5 at the end of one quarter. The Wildcats scored the final nine points in the period, with junior
Josie Larson tallying the final seven.
Key Plays
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Diamond Willcot scored nine points in the first half, which rewrote her career-high. Willcot went 4-of-8 from the floor including 1-of-3 from the three-point line.
- ACU went on 11-1 run in the third quarter sparked by five straight points from
Pamela Herrera, who set three new career-bests.
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Alyssa Adams made her first career start, and responded by tallying eight points and nine rebounds, and had a key run of five straight points in the second half.
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Josie Larson tallied the final seven points of the first quarter, and finished with a career-best 18 points.
Stat Pack
- The 73-point win is the third-largest margin of victory ever; ACU beat Southwestern Adventist on Jan. 12, 2013 by a score of 108-21 (87 points). The second-highest margin came against Howard Payne in November of 1995 (122-42, 80 points).
- ACU shot 59% from the floor, and went 11-of-30 from distance.
- The defense held Schreiner to just 27% from the floor and 0-of-13 from the three-point line.
- ACU forced 33 turnovers, and scored 53 off turnovers.
- Points in the paint was a difference as ACU led 58-14.
- Fast break points saw the Wildcats hold a 30-2 advantage.
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Dominique Golightly finished with 16 points on 7-of-11 from the floor. Dom finished with five assists and two steals.
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Diamond Willcot's nine points were a career-best, despite fouling out in the game.
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Pamela Herrera set new career-highs in points (12), assists (6), and steals (7). Her +50 +/- was the best of theday as well.
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Josie Larson set a new career-best with 18 points (5-of-9), and added three assists and a steal.
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Makayla Mabry added six rebounds.
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Lexi Kirgan recorded another double-digit effort with 12 points.
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Madi Miller tallied 10 points and four boards with a pair of steals.
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Breanna Wright recorded 8 points early and finished with 11 with three assists.
The "Good"-ie Bag of Quotes
Head Coach Julie Goodenough
On Pamela Herrera's career day…
"Pam has such a heavy load to deal with. She is in nursing school, and had so much going on during finals week. I think she took some pressure off her shoulders today and it was fun to watch her play."
On the good tune-up win before league play…
"It's good to see a team that will do things offensively the way teams in our league will. The way Schreiner plays gives us looks as to how some of our conference opponents will play."
On the way her team played in the first eight non-conference games…
"I think it got us ready. The different things we faced gives us great prep for the league. The athletic teams, the power, the strength, the smart players, and all of it. Our schedule has allowed us to see it all. We played some great individual players. We are ready to go."
Up Next
- ACU opens the new 20-game Southland Conference schedule on Wednesday, Dec. 18 in Moody Coliseum when it welcomes the Privateers of New Orleans to town. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3.
