ABILENE – Hardin-Simmons University's Mabee Complex, where current Abilene Christian women's basketball head coach
Julie Goodenough coached for nine seasons between 1993-2002, will play host to the Wildcats' Wednesday 6 p.m. game vs. the defending Southland Conference Tournament Champions from Nicholls and its reigning Player of the Year Cassidy Barrios.
The game, which was shifted two miles west down Ambler Avenue due to Sing Song preparations in Moody Coliseum, will be streamed live via
ACUSports.com with
Zach Carlyle handling the play-by-play.
With seven games left in the regular-season, Wednesday's game is pivotal in terms of tournament seeding and tiebreaker scenarios since this is the lone meeting between the Wildcats and Colonels. Nicholls enters this week with an overall record of 13-9 and is a half game ahead of the Wildcats (14-8, 7-4) and Sam Houston State Bearkats (12-9, 7-4) for third place in the Southland Conference standings at 7-3.
Stephen F. Austin (19-3, 10-0) and Lamar (17-5, 10-1) remain the league's top two teams, and by being at least three games ahead in the win column appear destined to earn the tournament's coveted double bye. The third and fourth-place teams receive a single-round bye; however, the teams that finish fifth through eighth have to win four games in four days to win the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
Nicholls has won its last two game and four of its last give since dropping a one-point (69-68) decision at McNeese. The Colonels also have fallen to league leaders SFA (70-62) and Lamar (78-65), but have received impressive performances from Barrios in all 22 of its games as she leads her team in every NCAA-tracked category with the exception of 3-point field-goal percentage. She also has 15 double-doubles, one triple-double, and ranks among the nation's top-10 players with 9.0 defensive rebounds per game and 126 free throws made.
"We have to guard her (Barrios) with the entire team," said Goodenough, who will be coaching her first game at Mabee since departing HSU. "We have to pay attention to her without losing sight of the other players on their roster. I think their biggest strength right now is playing with confidence. They went into last season's conference tournament as one of the underdogs and came out as its champion. They know how to win behind one of the best players in the league, and she makes everyone around her better. They think they're going to win every night, and that's a hard thing to overcome. This is one of our home games though, and we have to make sure we take care of business since we're playing in Abilene."
The Wildcats unfortunately have lost the first two games on its current three-game homestand, losing to Lamar last Wednesday, 63-60, and Sam Houston State, 73-62, this past Saturday. Despite the defeats, junior guard
Breanna Wright was sensational in both games by averaging 25.0 points per contest.
A native of Jarrell, Texas, Wright shot 52.9 percent from the floor (18-340 with eight three-pointers and six free throws. Wright additionally dished out 11 assists and was credited with two steals through 80 minutes of action.
"Brea is the floor leader for the Wildcats," said Goodenough. "I feel more confident about what we're doing when she's on the court, and I think she's one of the best shooters in the league. She had not been shooting the ball very well in conference play, but this past week she showed what she can do when she's got her feet set and reading the defense correctly. She did a great job knocking down shots when we needed her to, but she's not just a 3-point shooter. She's a facilitator, she makes hustle play, she can score off drives and I think she put two really complete games together this past week."
Admission is free for Wednesday night's game at Hardin-Simmons. Fans can park in the surface lot along Simmons Avenue across from the Mabee Complex.
