ABILENE – Abilene Christian women's basketball can clinch its spot in the Southland Conference Championship Tournament as early as Saturday if the Wildcats defeat Southeastern Louisiana during their 1 p.m. game at Moody Coliseum, which will be streamed on
ESPN3 (
Grant Boone) in addition to being carried locally on
98.1 FM – The Ticket (
Zach Carlyle).
The Wildcats, who were idle Wednesday, are tied for third place in the league standings with Nicholls at 9-4, 3.5 games behind 13-1 Lamar and 3.0 games behind second place Stephen F. Austin (12-1). The Lady Lions, meanwhile, are on the outside looking in with a ninth-place record of 4-10. Southeastern La. has lost its last four matches – and its last three by a combined 15 points – to fall a half game behind McNeese (4-9) for the final spot in the postseason tournament, which begins March 13 in Katy, Texas.
Of those four wins earned by the Lady Lions in conference competition, one is against the Wildcats, which lost 74-71 in Hammond, La. back on Jan. 12.
In that game, ACU came all the way back from a 13-point second-quarter deficit (42-29), but couldn't hold onto its late-game lead as Southeastern put together a 6-0 run over the final 2:38. Junior guard
Breanna Wright led all Wildcats with 20 points followed by
Lexie Ducat (16 points),
Dominique Golightly (13) and
Sara Williamson (10).
Saturday's Promotion – P4X Game
Saturday is the annual Play 4 Rex Foundation Game, which recognizes the organization that was founded to honor the life and memory of Rex Fleming (son of ACU associate director of athletics
Lance Fleming and his wife, Jill), who died in November 2012 after a two-year battle against brain cancer. The foundation has raised more than $450,000 over the last six years and helped countless families living in the world of pediatric cancer. Both teams are wearing shooting shirts today with the P4X logo on the front in the respective school colors. If you're interested in learning more about or donating to the foundation, go to
p4xfoundation.com. And if you're interested in playing in or sponsoring our sixth annual golf tournament -- the largest non-profit tournament in Abilene -- on Monday, May 13, email
Lance Fleming at play4rex@gmail.com.
Speaking of Williamson, she shot 78.9 percent (15-19) from the field last week in games against Nicholls (11-14) and Incarnate Word (4-5). These performances propelled her back to the top of the Southland Conference (.612) in field goal percentage and tenth nationally. Williamson additionally is No. 2 in the Southland with 4.6 assists per game, third in assist turnover ratio (1.72) and fifth with 1.17 blocked shots per game.
Wright is second in the Southland with a .861 free-throw percentage and is third with 4.5 assists per game and 34.16 minutes per game, while Dominique Golgithly is No. 7 in field-goal percentage and top five with 166 3-pointers attempted, 2.08 treys per game and .301 3-point field goal percentage.
Southeastern's Celica Sterling also is one of the league's top shooters from long distance. She is averaging 14.6 points per game behind 2.28 3-pointers per game and a .375 3-point field goal percentage.
Other Lady Lions to watch include Tyler Morrison (3.6 apg), Jaclyn Scholvin (1.76 steal per game) and Caitlyn Williams (7.0 rpg).
