ABILENE – Abilene Christian women's basketball held its own for the better part of three quarters against Stephen F. Austin until the Ladyjacks outscored the Wildcats 27-7 over the final 13:29 en route to a 65-48 victory Wednesday night at William Johnson Coliseum.
The loss not only snapped the Wildcats' five-game winning streak, but it also dropped them into sole possession of fourth place in the Southland Conference standings – 1.0 game behind third-place Nicholls (13-4) and 1.0 game ahead of fifth-place Sam Houston State (11-6) with one game left to play in the regular season.
The Colonels tonight buried Northwestern State, 89-67, for their sixth-straight win, while the Bearkats scored a big road win at Central Arkansas, 71-59. Sam Houston will be at SFA Saturday to challenge the Ladyjacks' 16-0 home record, and Nicholls will play host to 12th-place Southeastern La.
The conference's No. 3 and 4 teams receive a first-round bye at next weekend's Southland Conference Championships; however, first-place Lamar and SFA – as a result of tonight's win – will receive the coveted double bye and only have to win two games in Katy, Texas to attain the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
Lamar, which was idle tonight, leads SFA by 1.0 game for first place and will close out its season Saturday vs. McNeese.
For the Wildcats (19-9, 12-5 SLC), tonight they battled back from an early seven-point deficit to tie the score at 12-12 at the end of the first quarter and went into halftime tied at 29-29 after senior guard
Sara Williamson (eight points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals) hit a layup with no time remaining.
SFA (24-5, 15-2 SLC) came out of the break hitting its first two field goals to go ahead 34-29, but the Wildcats steadily pulled their way back into the lead over a span of five minutes. A three-point play from junior
Dominique Golightly (10 points, four rebounds) made it a one-possession game and then Williamson tied the score at 34-34 on a fast-break layup with the assist coming from junior
Breanna Wright (six points, six rebounds, five assists).
A native of Jarrell, Texas Wright hit a 3-pointer at the 6:35 mark to put ACU in front 37-36 and the score remained that way for close to two minutes until sophomore
Alyssa Adams finished a fast-break pass from Williamson to give the Wildcats a three-point lead at 39-36.
Williamson again would find Adams (12 points, five rebounds) in the post on the team's next possession coming out of the media timeout, but after that it was all Ladyjacks as they outscored ACU 8-0 for the remainder of the quarter. The home team's defense further clamped down on the Wildcats in the fourth quarter allowing only seven points on 2-5 shooting and two free throws.
SFA had three players reach double figures in scoring. Aiyana Johnson totaled 14 points off the bench in 21 minutes. Imani Johnson posted a 10-point / 10-rebound double-double, and Chanell Hayes recorded 10 points with a pair of 3-pointers.
The Wildcats return to action Saturday, March 9 for their regular-season and home finale against Incarnate Word. Williamson, the team's sole senior, will be honored during pregame activities prior to the 1 p.m. tipoff.
ACU won its first game this season vs. the Cardinals in San Antonio, 71-50, back on Feb. 16.
