Wildcats win instant classic to sweep Sam Houston State

ABILENE – Very rarely will you watch a game that you won't ever forget. Wednesday night was that night in Moody Coliseum. The ACU women's basketball team pulled off a sweep in style over the Sam Houston State Bearkats, surviving a late push to hold on, 94-91. Four Wildcats finished in double figures as ACU got its 21st win of the season and moved to 13-4 in league play.

Southland Significance

• ACU remains in fourth place in the league standings, but now controls its own destiny to jump Sam Houston State after sweeping the Bearkats. The Wildcats have a game remaining with SFA, who sits in second place. One game in the standings separated the top four teams.

Big First Half Lead

• ACU build a 9-1 lead in the first three minutes of the games, in large part due to interior play. Dominique Golightly, Lexie Ducat, and Breanna Wright all scored inside for the first six of the game, and Anna McLeod added a three-pointer to push the lead to 9-1.
• The Wildcats led by as many as 12 in the first period on a Golightly three-pointer, and held a 26-19 edge after one.
• Wright continued to dominate inside, pushing the lead to 16 points at the 5:16 mark of the half, and the lead grew to 20 at halftime, 51-31.
• ACU shot an absolutely ridiculous 69% in the first quarter and 71% from the floor in the first half. The Wildcats missed just nine shots (22-31), and only needed four three-pointers in that stretch.

Second Half Comeback by Sam Houston State

• Senior Jaylonn Walker was the story for the Bearkats, finishing with an insane 41 points for the game on 14-23 shooting. Coming off the bench, Walker scored almost half the Bearkat points and hit a game-best five three-pointers. SHSU made a valient effort to come back in the game, but just fell short.
• The Bearkats cut the ACU lead to 12 points to start the fourth quarter, and outscored the 'Cats 28-20 in the third period. ACU turned it over six times after having just seven in the entire first half.
• The game got really interesting when the Bearkats cut it to five points, 72-67, with 7:42 to play in the game.
• ACU then scored on a McLeod layup to go back up 10 points, 85-75, with 2:56 to play, but Sam wasn't done. The Bearkats cut it to four points with 50 seconds left on the 41st point of the game to get it to 87-83.
• McLeod, Wright, and Golightly then made free throws, but Wright missed her second with just four seconds left, leaving the window open for SHSU. The Bearkats, with Jaylonn Walker fouled out of the game, launched a three-pointer with Amber Leggett that was open on the right wing, and missed off to the right at the buzzer. ACU walked off 94-91 winners.

Stat Pack

• Breanna Wright finished with 25 points, and hit 9-of-12 at the foul line. ACU altogether went 23-of-29 from the stripe.
• Wright and Makayla Mabry led the way with four assists apiece; Mabry was incredible, setting a new career-high with 14 rebounds to go along with seven points.
• McLeod scored a new season-best against a Division I opponent with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting. McLeod went a perfect 5-of-5 at the line.
• Lexie Ducat had a dominant performance inside, missing just one shot (8-of-9), and scoring 16 points.
• Dominique Golightly scored 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, and did most of it in foul trouble; the senior fouled out with 30 seconds left.
• Alyssa Adams made key plays down the stretch; the junior finished with eight points, all in the final four minutes of the game.
• ACU scored 20 or more points in every quarter, and finished the game shooting 61% from the floor, their highest against a Division I opponent this season.
• The game was tied in points in the paint, with each side scoring 56.
• ACU only needed five three-pointers to win the game, and made 28 two-point baskets.
• Brea Wright is averaging 25 points per game in her last six games against Sam Houston State, spanning three seasons.

Up Next

• The Wildcats look to keep their winning streak going when they host the Central Arkansas Sugar Bears on Saturday, Feb. 29. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN3 and heard on 98.1 The Ticket.