ABILENE – Junior Wildcat guard
Breanna Wright knocked down seven treys in scoring a game-high 27 points against first-place Lamar (17-4), which escaped Moody Coliseum Wednesday night with a 63-60 victory over Abilene Christian (14-7, 7-3) to remain undefeated against the Southland Conference at 10-0.
The Wildcats led the Cardinals by two after the first quarter, only trailed by three at halftime, and then took a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter before everything started to swing Lamar's way.
A 3-pointer from
Dominique Golightly (11 points) gave ACU a 47-38 lead with 8:45 to go in regulation, but the Cardinals soon made it a one-possession game thanks to a 6-0 run ignited by a Moe Kinard (18 points) triple. The visitors then connected on five consecutive field goals over a span of three minutes, including 3-pointers by Miya Crump (11 points) Kinard, Chastadie Barrs (13 points) and Angel Hastings (5 points).
The Hastings' basket gave the Cardinals their first lead of the quarter, 56-54, with 3:31 to go.
ACU tied the score twice more at 56 and 58 on layups from Golightly and Ducat (12 points, 7 rebounds), but the Cardinals would hit five of their last six free-throw attempts in the final minute while holding the Wildcats to only two points – a Wright layup at the 18-second mark.
Golightly twice missed from long range down the stretch, and her final attempt (taken with about six seconds left) bounced off the right side of the rim. Freshman
Madi Miller tried to save the ball from going out of bounds but was unsuccessful as she tossed it up underhanded while running over the sideline.
ACU shot 61.5 percent (8-13) in the fourth quarter to finish at at 45.5 clip (25-55), but the Cardinals were close to perfect over the final 10 minutes in hitting 8-12 FGs (five treys) and 8-10 free throws. Lamar's fourth-quarter total of 29 points was two more than what it produced in the first half (27 points).
The Cardinals also struggled offensively in the third quarter, being held to seven points on 3-13 (.231) shooting with one 3-pointer, as ACU won the rebounding battle, 35-29 led by
Makayla Mabry's 11 boards.
The Wildcats also scored eight more points in the paint, 32-24, and totaled nine points on the fast break. However, one of biggest disadvantages for the Wildcats came at the free-throw line where they were outscored, 13-2. ACU was limited to only five free throw attempts, while the Cardinals went to the charity stripe 17 times – 10 in the fourth quarter.
Next up for the Wildcats is a 3:30 p.m. home game vs. Sam Houston State, which will be streamed on ESPN3. ACU defeated the Bearkats, 91-79, earlier this season in Huntsville.
