ABILENE – Abilene Christian women's basketball snapped a two-game Southland Conference losing streak with a decisive 76-66 win over the league's defending tournament champions from Nicholls Wednesday night at Hardin-Simmons' Mabee Complex.
The Wildcats improved to 15-8 overall and 8-4 within the Southland Conference with the victory, keeping them tied with Sam Houston State, which was a 61-59 winner at home tonight vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Colonels (13-10) are a half game back behind both teams at 7-4.
ACU was led in scoring by senior
Sara Williamson, who totaled 24 points off the bench in 25 minutes on 11-of-14 shooting (.786). She also stole four passes, one of which led to a fast-break layup in the third quarter, and blocked two shots.
The Wildcats were further helped on offense by starters
Dominique Golightly,
Makayla Mabry and
Madi Miller, who combined for all nine of the team's 3-point baskets. Golightly,
Lexie Ducat and Mabry additionally shared the team lead with six rebounds, while junior Brianna Wright dished out the most assists with six.
Julie Goodenough postgame interview
ACU is temporarily displaced from its Moody Coliseum home this week due to Sing Song practices, but that didn't seem to upset
Julie Goodenough whose two daughters have won the event in previous years with the GATA social club. Furthermore, the Mabee Complex was home to Goodenough for nine seasons from 1993-2002, when she led the HSU Cowgirls to 188 wins and four trips to the NCAA DIII Championship.
But this homecoming got off to a bizarre start both on-and-off the court. First, the Wildcats were trapped inside the volleyball locker room for the better part of 40 minutes during pregame due to an electronic lock malfunction, and they then started the game 0-for-9 from the field.
Luckily for ACU, the Colonels had their own four-minute scoring drought and were outrebounded 13-5 in the first quarter.
The Wildcats finally started to click some on offense after the media timeout, breaking a 7-7 tie on a Mabry 3-pointer at the 3:25 mark. They would then hit their next three field goals, getting a layup from
Alyssa Adams, a jumper from Ducat, and another trey from Mabry to start the second quarter.
Williamson assisted on Mabry's second 3-pointer of the quarter at 6:09, and proceeded to go off on an absolute tear over the final five minutes of the half. She blocked a Kinzie Heinemann 3-pointer with the Wildcats hanging onto a 22-20 lead and over the course of 77 seconds she converted three consecutive field goals, the last of which put ACU up 28-22 with two minutes until the break.
Golightly buried a 3-pointer at the 1:33 mark to give ACU its largest lead of the first half at 31-22, but in the final second, Nicholls' Lauryn Bowie put back Cassidy Barrios' missed jumper that made it a 33-26 score at halftime.
The Wildcats soon pushed their lead out to 15 points less than four minutes into the third quarter; however, the Colonels battled right back and their 8-0 run trimmed ACU's advantage back down to 46-41 with 14 minutes remaining in regulation. The home team didn't blink though as Golightly buried another trey on their very next possession, and then a technical foul called on Nicholls' head coach DoBee Plaisance helped the Wildcats extend their run to 9-0.
Wright sank both her free throws following the technical, which was called after Plaisance argued about an offensive foul charged to reigning Southland Player of the Year Barrios. The junior from Jarrell followed her free throws with an assist to Williamson, which gave the Wildcats a 14-point lead at 57-43.
ACU maintained its double-digit cushion until a 6-0 Colonel run made it a 71-62 contest with 4:03 left in regulation. A free throw from Airi Hamilton got Nicholls to within eight points with 75 seconds to go, but she missed her second attempt and the Wildcats made three of their last four from the charity stripe to clinch their fourth win over the Colonels in six meetings.
The Wildcats return to action Saturday for a 1 p.m. game at Incarnate Word. ACU and the Cardinals split last season's two-game series with each team winning on its home court.
