ABILENE – Abilene Christian women's basketball concludes its regular-season Saturday with a 1 p.m. home game against archrival Incarnate Word that will double as Senior Day for guard
Sara Williamson. The Rowlett, Texas native will be recognized alongside her parents and brothers during a pregame ceremony.
The game will be streamed on
ACUSports.com and carried locally on
98.1 FM — The Ticket.
It was against these same Cardinals at Moody Coliseum last season that Williamson recorded one of her most memorable games as a collegian. During the team's annual Pink Game, with her mother, Sue – a cancer survivor – in the crowd, Williamson scored the game-winning layup with 0.5 seconds remaining in the Wildcats' 58-56 triumph.
Much of Williamson's collegiate career coincided with her mother's cancer battle, and despite all the anxiety and emotion involved, and the countless hours spent praying, thinking and loving on a parent engaged in a life-and-death struggle Williamson persevered through four full seasons as both a reserve and starter.
Williamson came off the bench exclusively through all 30 games of her 2015-16 freshman year, which was capped by the team's first Southland Conference regular-season championship banner and program's debut at the WNIT. Wearing No. 1 all that season, Williamson averaged 3.1 points and 1.0 assist per game through 318 minutes. One of her best rookie season games took place vs. Lamar at Moody Coliseum, where she scored 13 points in 12 minutes on 3-3 shooting (two 3-pointers) and five free throws.
Her expertise on the court made her an obvious choice to start the first nine games of the 2016-17 season with the Wildcats' D1-era leading scorer
Alexis Mason sidelined due to injury. Four games into the year she scored a season-high 16 points in a preseason WNIT win over UT Rio Grande Valley, and in her second-to-last start she played all 45 minutes of an overtime loss to UMKC, dishing out nine assists.
ACU went on to win its second regular-season crown, again advanced to the WNIT, and came away with one of the biggest upsets in program history when the Wildcats stunned Oklahoma State in Stillwater, 66-56.
Williamson's been a starting lineup staple the past two seasons, helping the Wildcats win 16 games – including their first Southland Conference Tournament game vs. New Orleans – in 2017-18, and with a win Saturday over UIW she'll have been part of three 20-win campaigns with the Purple and White.
Her current winning percentage as a four-year player is .700 (84-36).
Saturday's contest will mark Williamson's 121st game as a Wildcat, tying her with
Suzzy Dimba and
Sydney Shelstead for most D1 era games played. She also will leave the program with an excess of 900 points, 350 assists, 300 rebounds, 130 steals and 75 blocks, in addition to having one of the highest single-season field-goal percentages in Wildcat history (61.3, 133-217).
Following Williamson's recognition ceremony, the Wildcats will get down to business with the Cardinals for the 32nd time in their histories. ACU leads the all-time series 22-9, including a 71-50 win in San Antonio back on Feb. 16. However, these Wildcats likely won't forget losing last season's finale at the McDermott Center, 58-46.
ACU goes into its 18th conference match with overall and league records of 19-9 and 12-5, which is good for fourth place. To remain there and earn a first-round bye at next week's Southland Conference Championship, the Wildcats have to beat the Cardinals; however, they also can stay there if fifth-place Sam Houston State (11-6) falls at second-place Stephen F. Austin.
A loss to the Cardinals and win by the Bearkats means a fifth-place showing for ACU, and first-round tournament match against whomever is seeded eighth.
ACU can also move into the No. 3 seed if its win is coupled with a Nicholls (13-4) loss vs. Southeastern La. The Wildcats would earn the tiebreak over the Colonels based on their head-to-head win earlier this season.
As for the Cardinals (5-23, 5-12 Southland) their role at Moody Coliseum will strictly be that of spoiler as only Central Arkansas and Northwestern State are the only two teams remaining for the eighth and final seed.
