ABILENE – Abilene Christian women's basketball continues its three-game Southland Conference homestand Saturday with a 3:30 p.m. game vs. Sam Houston State that will air on both ESPN3 (
Grant Boone) and 98.1 FM - The Ticket (
Zach Carlyle). This is the second of two regular-season meetings between the Wildcats and Bearkats as ACU won in Huntsville, Texas earlier this season 91-79 to take a 15-6 lead in their all-time series.
The Wildcats, in fact, have won their last eight games vs. the Bearkats since suffering a 63-58 defeat on their home court in Jan. 2015.
Four Wildcat starters scored deep into double figures in their most recent meeting at Johnson Coliseum. Junior
Dominique Golightly recorded a career-high 26 points thanks to five 3-pointers followed by senior
Sara Williamson with 23 points, junior
Breanna Wright (18) and sophomore
Makayla Mabry (16).
ACU (14-7, 7-3 Southland) scored 27 first-quarter points vs. the Bearkats behind 47.1 percent shooting and remained consistent for the rest of the game finishing with a 50.9 shooting percentage (29-57). A dozen of their 29 field goals were from beyond the 3-point arc, and at the foul line, they made 21-of-27 attempts (.778).
Sam Houston State comes into Saturday's matinee with overall and Southland Conference records of 11-9 and 6-4 following Wednesday night's 93-80 win at McNeese, during which the Bearkats made 36-of-41 free throws (.878). Lydia Baxter came off the bench (30 minutes) to score 27 points on 9-10 shooting from both the field and charity stripe, and teammate Jenniffer Oramas matched that point total with seven field goals (one 3-pointer) and 12 free throws.
Baxter and Oramas each started vs. the Wildcats during their January game, combining for 26 points and 11 rebounds. Baxter went to free-throw line 20 times and finished with an 18 point / 10 rebound double-double.
The Bearkats' win coupled with the Wildcats' 63-60 loss to first-place Lamar (9-0) put them one game behind the Wildcats for third place in the Southland Conference, while next week's opponent Nicholls is caught between ACU and Sam Houston State at 6-3. The Colonels were idle Wednesday night with their next game scheduled for Saturday at New Orleans.
ACU led Lamar most of the game and enjoyed a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter; however, the Cardinals rallied behind five consecutive field goals (four 3-pointers) to retake the lead with 3:31 to go in regulation.
The Wildcats tied the score twice more at 56 and 58 on layups from Golightly and
Lexie 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.
ACU had a chance to send the game to overtime but Golightly's 3-point shot taken from the top of the arc missed to the right and the Wildcats couldn't come up with the offensive rebound.
