McLeod, Mraz soar in overtime road win at Lamar

BEAUMONT, Texas — Anna McLeod matched a career-high with 28 points, Kamryn Mraz dropped a career-best 19, and the ACU women's basketball team held off a ferocious Lamar rally Saturday, winning in overtime, 76-65. The Wildcats (11-5, 4-3 SLC) outscored the Cardinals (5-10, 4-3 SLC) 15-4 in the overtime period to pull away, hitting three triples and dominating in the rebounding to earn the road win. The win secures a season-split with Lamar, who beat ACU on Wednesday in Abilene, and ends the first losing streak of the season for the team. It was the first overtime game of the season, and ACU had every answer to come up with the win.

Turning Point: The last possession of regulation and all of overtime.

• Anna McLeod tied the game at 61 with the first of two free throws with under 30 seconds left. She missed the second, and Lamar had a chance to win it at the buzzer. ACU buckled down and got a stop when Jadyn Pimentel missed a fade away with a second left, and Alyssa Adams got the rebound to send it to overtime.
• ACU turned it over their first possession of overtime, but dominated the rest of the way. McLeod hit a huge three-pointer to go up 66-63, and Alice Stevenson followed it up with one of her own. Madi Miller then scored five straight points, effectively ending the game. It was an 11-0 run in overtime and the Wildcats walked away with the road win.

Key Plays

• 1Q 9:41 | Kamryn Mraz set the tone with a three-pointer on the opening possession. Head coach Julie Goodenough said her team just needed to see some shots go down early, and Mraz got it started.
• 1Q 7:08 | The second field goal of the game came from Paige Emborsky, who made her second straight start. Her three got the ball rolling from the outside. ACU hit five three-pointers in the opening quarter.
• 1Q 3:09 | McLeod hit a triple to answer when the Wildcats trailed 14-13. It was back-and-forth both ways in the first half.
• 1Q 2:08 | Sarah Griswold hit a mid-range jumper to go up 20-18, and McLeod hit another three with 33 seconds left to go up six at the end of the first.
• 2Q 9:49 | McLeod hit her FIFTH three 11 seconds into the second quarter, forcing a timeout by Lamar. McLeod had 14 points in the first half.
• 2Q | ACU led by as many as 12 in the first half, and took a seven-point lead into the locker room.
• 3Q 8:51 | After a scoring drought to end the first half, Mraz hit the first three of the second half to go up 10, 38-28.
• 3Q | ACU led 46-30, but Lamar closed the quarter on a 7-0 run.
• 4Q 5:19 | Mraz was clutch at the foul line in the fourth quarter. The junior hit six straight free throws to put ACU up by four points three different times.
• 4Q 2:41 | Mraz then hit a triple to go up 56-53, but Lamar wasn't done. They would get four consecutive free throws from Micaela Wilson to grab the lead.
• 4Q 1:59 | McLeod then hit a three to go up 59-57, and would hit two foul shots down the stretch to tie it up, setting up the overtime.

Stat Pack

• McLeod matched a career-high with 28 points; the Houston native scored 28 earlier this year against Northern Colorado. The redshirt senior hit six three-pointers, her second-highest total this season.
• Mraz scored 19, the most in her career, and tied her career-best with four triples. She added five assists and and two steals.
• Stevenson dropped in eight, including two HUGE three-pointers. The freshman, who was out there in key moments in overtime, added five rebounds.
• Adams, who had 22 rebounds against Lamar last time, grabbed nine more to go along with seven points.
• ACU finished with 23 turnovers, but only had one in the first quarter, which was paramount to helping build the early lead.
• ACU hit 14 three-pointers, their third-highest total this season, and their first double-double effort from distance in conference play.
• The Wildcats out-rebounded the Cardinals 37-26, and had 10 offensive boards.
• There were eight ties and 10 lead changes in the game.

Up Next
ACU is back in action next Wednesday, Feb. 10 at Houston Baptist. The tip-off in Sharp Gym is at 6:30 and can be heard on 102.7 The Bear. It is the first of two matchups this season with HBU.