KATY, Texas – With time running out and Abilene Christian's lead slipping away junior
Lexie Ducat came down with the biggest offensive rebound in program history to help seal the Wildcats' 69-68 victory over sixth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the championship game of the Southland Conference Tournament Sunday afternoon at the Merrell Center.
The Wildcats (23-9), which led by as many as 24 points early in the third quarter and 11 points at the halfway point of the fourth stanza, had their advantage trimmed down to a point with a minute left in regulation.
Then after junior Dominque Golightly missed the second of two free throws, Ducat boxed out her defender at the 11-second mark and tossed the ball out to Tournament MVP
Breanna Wright, who dropped in two free throws that put the fourth-seeded Wildcats ahead, 69-66.
The Islanders (17-16) had one last look at a game-tying 3-pointer, but Alexes Bryant's (9 points, 7 rebounds) attempt missed its mark so they settled for the putback at the buzzer. A&M-Corpus Christi shot .424 from the field (28-66) but came up empty on all 12 of its 3-point attempts.
"I couldn't be more proud of this team" said head coach
Julie Goodenough, who has taken her ACU teams to five postseasons in seven years. "We set this as our goal on June 1 and we were bound and determined to make it a reality. We rose to the occasion in all three games against three very different opponents, and now having both ACU basketball teams in the NCAAs, I don't know what else can bring more pride to the university. Our team really appreciates all the support from the community, faculty and staff."
Wright finished the tournament 22-of-23 from the free-throw line (.957) and averaged a team-best 20.3 points per game in making the all-tournament team along with senior
Sara Williamson, who has been part of three conference championship teams at ACU in four seasons. Her first two teams won the league's regular-season title and qualified for the WNITs.
Next up for the Wildcats is their Selection Monday event, during which they'll find out their first-round NCAA Championship opponent. ESPN's coverage will start at 6 p.m. CT.
"I'm just smiling," said an elated Wright. "I don't know what all I'm feeling right now. We've worked so hard, and I'm so happy for my teammates. It's a lot of fun, and I want to do it again. This is a great team moment."
"I've seen plenty of other teams (this weekend) hoist trophies," added Williamson, who totaled nine points, five assists and three rebounds in 35 minutes, "and it's awesome to have the honor of doing that here."
The Wildcats shot 47.2 percent overall (23-53) and hit 11 of 27 3-point attempts (.407), including two in the final quarter that provided leads of 56-52 (
Makayla Mabry - 8:24) and 62-53 (
Dominique Golightly - 5:30).
Ducat (12 points, six rebounds) sank a pair of free throws to give ACU an 11-point lead at 64-53 with 4:44 to go, but wouldn't record another point until she dropped her layup at the 1:05 mark (66-64).
The Islanders then took off on an 11-0 run that lasted three minutes and 33 seconds.
Dalesia Booth's free throws tied the score at 64-64 with 1:57 to go, but Islanders couldn't get any closer after Ducat hit they layup with the assists coming from Williamson. Golightly (15 points, seven rebounds, four 3-pointers) and Wright (16 points, seven rebounds) hit the last three free throws over the final 13 seconds.
"Everyone was feeling the game slipping away," said Goodenough, who has won 144 games in seven seasons at ACU. "They (Corpus Christi) were getting and ones and putbacks, so I have to become a cheerleader when that's happening. I had to show them that I still had confidence and encouraged them to keep doing what they do well. That's communicate and get stops.
"Corpus does a great job of changing its defenses, and that got us out of rhythm some on offense," she added. "I give all the credit to Coach (Royce) Chadwick. He is a great defensive coach and I kept telling my team not to get comfortable with any lead."
Today's ACU win marks just the second time both men's and women's teams have won the Southland Conference Basketball Tournaments in the same year. The only other time was 1997 when Texas State won the men's and women's crowns.
The women have played 33 Southland tournaments, with the first taking place in 1983. The league did not conduct a women's tourney from 1984 through 1987, resuming in 1988 and playing each year thereafter.
"This is a phenomenal feeling," said Goodenough. "I watched the men's game last night with Abilene mayor Anthony Williams, who is a huge fan of the Wildcats, and the overall fan support was simply awesome. With this being the first time both of our teams were here, it was good to see so many fans come down to Katy to see what it was all about. They were impressive."
First Quarter Recap
The Wildcats hit five of their first eight field goals in building a quick 13-4 lead at the media timeout, but the Islanders put together a mini 9-3 run of their own to get within one possession at 16-13.
From there, however,
Breanna Wright buried a 3-pointer and
Alyssa Adams came off the bench to hit a layup to give the Wildcats a 21-15 advantage at the end of the first 10 minutes.
Second Quarter Recap
Adams' layup kick started a 13-0 Wildcats' run to begin the second half – a stretch that also included two baskets by
Sara Williamson, three-pointer by
Makayla Mabry, an uncontested layup from Lexi Ducat and the and one from Wright.
Once again the Islanders pieced together a mid-quarter run that trimmed ACU's lead from 17 to 12, but ACU's response was sudden as a steal-and-fast break layup from Williamson immediately was followed by consecutive treys from Golightly and Mabry that gave the Wildcats their first 20-point lead of the ball game.
A&M-Corpus Christi scored the final bucket of the half on a buzzer-beater layup from Dae Dae Evans to go into the locker room down, 43-25.
For the first half, the Wildcats shot 60.7 from the floor and sank 7-of-13 three-point attempts (53.8) while pulling down 17 rebounds. They also were charged with only three personal fouls and six turnovers.
Third Quarter Recap
The Islanders trailed by as many as 24 points to begin the second half but used a monster 19-3 run over the final seven minutes to go into the final quarter down, 53-45, bringing their fan base back to life. ACU's lone basket after the media timeout was a 3-pointer from
Breanna Wright.
