BEAUMONT, Texas – On the road again. After a pair of home games in Moody Coliseum, the Wildcat women's basketball team (16-4, 8-3 SLC) heads back out for a road date in Beaumont, Texas with the Lamar Cardinals on Saturday, Feb. 8. Lamar will be the first opponent ACU will see twice, after topping the Cardinals in Abilene earlier this season.
FOLLOW THE GAME
ACU at Lamar: Saturday, Feb. 1 (2 p.m.)
- Watch: ESPN3
- Listen: 98.1 The Ticket (Zach Carlyle)
- Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
SERIES HISTORY
- Lamar leads the all-time series 6-4, but the Wildcats have won two in a row in the series.
- The teams met on Jan. 4 in Abilene, with ACU coming out on top 79-72. Dominique Golighty led the way with a then-career best 27 points.
- The biggest matchup between the schools came in March 2019 in Katy, Texas in the Southland Conference Tournament semifinal game. ACU, the No. 4 seed, upset the top-seeded Cardinals, 88-79, to advance to its first-ever championship game. The Wildcats scored 36 points in the fourth quarter to advance.
SOUTHLAND SIGNIFICANCE
- ACU sits in fourth place in the standings, and is a half-game out of third-place Sam Houston State. It's a jumble at the top of the standings, with SFA and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi currently in the top two spots at 10-2.
- The Wildcats will play the top three teams all once more, including traveling to Corpus next week. There are still nine games remaining in the league schedule.
- The top four in the final standings get a first-round bye in the upcoming Hercules Tires Southland Conference Tournament, and the top two get a double-bye, with only two games standing between you and the NCAA Tournament.
ACU STORYLINES
- IT'S SNOW PROBLEM: Despite the five inches of snow falling in Abilene, ACU and Northwestern State played on. The Wildcats scored 48 points in the first half, and buckled down defensively, holding the Lady Demons to just 27 second-half points on 27% shooting. The 84-69 win snapped a two-game losing streak for ACU.
- MORE DOUBLE-DOUBLE FUN: Lexie Ducat recorded ACU's first double-double of the season on Dec. 18 against UNO. There would not be another one until Jan. 29 against UIW. I=In the last two games, there have been three double-doubles fort he team. Ducat scored 14 points and hauled in 10 rebounds in the win.
- OFFENSIVE SUCCESS: The team ranks 10th in the country in scoring at 80.6 points per game, and the +22.1 scoring margin per game ranks ninth in all of women's college basketball as well. The 48.0% shooting from the field ranks seventh in America, and the 38.0% shooting from distance ranks eighth in the country.
- I CAN DISH IT OUT AND TAKE IT: ACU is 15th in the nation in assists per game (17.2), 70th in assist/turnover ratio (1.1), and 36th in steals per game (10.4)
- MID-MAJOR POLL: ACU checks in at No. 21 in the latest Mid Major Poll, moving down six spots from a week ago. The Wildcats were ranked No. 11 four weeks ago, the highest the team had ever been. The 'Cats have earned key road victories this season. The team topped then-No. 16 Wright State on Nov. 15, won at Portland on Nov. 29, who was receiving votes, and just beat a 13-win Sam Houston State team. ACU has been ranked 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 21 this season.
SCOUTING LAMAR (9-12, 5-7 SLC)
- The Cardinals are coming off a defensive slugfest loss to Central Arkansas Wednesday, falling 53-29.
- Lamar is sputtering as of late, losing four of its last five games.
- Two players are averaging double-digits in scoring: Amber Vidal (12.7 PPG) and Angel Hastings (11.7 PPG).
