ABILENE — The ACU Wildcats never trailed, were never threatened and barely broke a sweat Saturday afternoon as they clinched the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye in next week's Southland Conference Postseason Tournament with a 102-53 thrashing of Incarnate Word in the regular-season finale for both teams at Moody Coliseum.
Junior guard
Breanna Wright scored 17 of her game-high 23 points in the first quarter as she hit 6 of 6 shots from the floor — including 4 of 4 from 3-point range — to help ACU jump out to a 31-15 lead. The lead was 54-33 at halftime and 80-42 at the end of the third quarter.
Senior guard
Sara Williamson — playing her final home game as a Wildcat — went out in style as she recorded her second career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 12 assists. Her first career double-double was a 22-point, 10-assist performance against Central Arkansas on Jan. 26.
The victory sends ACU to Katy next week for the Southland Conference tournament as the league's No. 4 seed. The Wildcats will get a first-round bye into Friday's quarterfinal round when they will play at 11 a.m. at the Merrell Center against the winner of Thursday's game between the No. 5 Bearkats of Sam Houston State and the No. 8 seed Sugar Bears of Central Arkansas. Those teams will play a first-round game Thursday at 11 a.m.
The Wildcats topped the century mark for the second time this season and 52nd time in program history when
Kamryn Mraz buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 41 seconds left in the contest. That was the final of ACU's 16 3-pointers on the day, setting a season high for made 3-pointers.
In fact, those 16 3-pointers are the most by an ACU team since the program's first season at the NCAA Division I level when the Wildcats hit 18 of 50 from 3-point range in a Feb. 8, 2014, win over Arlington Baptist.
Wright and Williamson were two five Wildcats in double figures as
Dominique Golightly added 15 points, while
Makayla Mabry had 13 and
Lexi Kirgan 12 off the bench.
