LAKE CHARLES, La. – Junior
Makayla Mabry hit a career-best seven three-pointers, her and her teammates scored 32 points in the fourth quarter, and the ACU women's basketball team ran away from the McNeese Cowgirls Wednesday night on the road. The Wildcats (12-1, 4-0 SLC) scored the second-most points in any quarter this season in the fourth quarter en route to their eighth straight victory, 90-73. ACU is 4-0 to start the Southland schedule for the third time in the last five seasons.
Turning Point: The whistle to signal the start of the fourth quarter.
- McNeese had all the momentum at the end of the third period, hitting a running three-pointer at the buzzer to pull within two points, 58-56. Then the final 10 minutes happened.
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Lexie Ducat,
Dominique Golightly, and
Madi Miller all converted in the paint to get the offense rolling, and Mabry had all the daggers ready to go in her arsenal from the three-point line. ACU scored 32 points on 72% shooting (13-of-18) in the period to run away from the Cowgirls. The lead got to as many as 23 before the final score settled at 90-73.
Key Plays
- The whole first half was back and forth. Mabry scored on a layup in the first quarter to push the lead to 18-12, but every time ACU went up, McNeese pushed back.
- ACU held four different six-point leads in the second quarter, and eventually led by 10 points when
Breanna Wright hit a pair of foul shots, but McNeese scored the final four of the half to send the game to the break at 40-34.
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Anna McLeod got behind the defense in a fast break chance in the back half of the third quarter, and hit both her free throws after getting fouled. Fouls were huge, as the whistle blew 44 times in the game.
- Mabry followed up with another huge three to push the lead to eight, but McNeese scored the final six of the third to give the Wildcats the two-point lead going to the fourth.
- Ducat turned in the paint and scored to give ACU a seven-point edge early in the final quarter, and Golightly hit a big three-pointer moments later to continue to add on. Ducat put the first nail in the coffin with an and-one layup inside to give the Wildcats a double-digit lead for the first time in the game.
- Mabry hit a three to go up 14 points, and ended the game with her seventh triple to push the advantage to 19.
Stat Pack
- Mabry's seven three-pointers are a career-best, and the most in a game since Wright hit seven against Lamar a season ago in Moody Coliseum.
- The 25 points is the first 20+ point game for the San Antonio native as well; Mabry's 12 three-point attempts are a new career mark as well.
- ACU has an eight-game winning streak for the first time since the end of the 2016-17 season when the team won eight straight heading into the WNIT second round.
- The Wildcats hit 12 three-pointers, marking the ninth time this season the team has hit 10 or more triples in a game.
- ACU hit their first 14 free throws in the game (finished 14-16); McNeese had 33 looks from the charity stripe, but had 15 misses in the game.
- ACU outrebounded the Cowgirls 33-30, and held the lead at halftime as well; the Wildcats are 11-0 when they lead at the break this season.
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Dominique Golightly finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.
- Ducat was huge in the second half, and finished with 13 points and three boards.
- Brea Wright added 11 points, five boards and team-high six assists.
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Madi Miller added five helpers to go along with seven points.
- All 11 healthy Wildcats played in the game.
"Good"-ie Bag of Quotes
Head Coach Julie Goodenough
On the battle through three quarters with McNeese…
"They made us work for sure. They made us uncomfortable and we had to adjust once again. McNeese played really well. I'm proud of the way we came out strong in the fourth quarter, and hit some big shots. We just stayed the course. It's really tough to win on the road."
On Makayla Mabry's career night…
"She was so shot-ready the whole night, and right from the tip. She made some great plays for us, and she was huge for us in the fourth quarter."
On the way everyone contributed…
"Hey, when you get in foul trouble like we did, you need people to come in and contribute in a tough road game, we were able to do that. I thought Pam [
Pamela Herrera] really held us together tonight, and I thought everyone who came off the bench did such a great job at keeping us on course. Great teams have depth. We have that for sure."
Up Next
- The team will head back to Abilene for a date with the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Saturday. The rematch of the 2019 Southland Conference Tournament Championship will tip off at 1 p.m. in Moody Coliseum, and can be seen on ESPN3.
