KATY, Texas -- Redshirt senior
Anna McLeod matched a career-high with 28 points,
Alyssa Adams and
Sarah Griswold combined for 22 points inside, and the No. 7 seed ACU women's basketball team is moving on to the second round of the Hercules Tires Southland Conference Tournament with an 81-70 win over No. 10 seed UIW Wednesday afternoon. The Wildcats (14-9, 6-7 SLC) scored the most points in a game since Dec. 15, and hit their most amount of three-pointers (12) in seven games to open their run at the Merrell Center. ACU and UIW went back and forth in scoring for a majority of the game, but ACU pulled away with an 11-0 run late in the third and into the fourth quarter. The Wildcats now advance to the second round to match up with the No. 6 seed Nicholls Colonels on Thursday at 2 p.m.
Tournament Bracket
ACU won the 7/10 matchup, and advances to play No. 6 Nicholls. The winner of that second-round game on Thursday takes on the No. 3 seed Sam Houston in the quarterfinal round on Friday.
Turning Point: The final 45 seconds of the third quarter.
Any lead was hard to come by Wednesday, but with under a minute to go in the third quarter and the game tied at 61, ACU went to work with a huge
Anna McLeod three-pointer. It gave the 'Cats a three-point lead, and more importantly, gave them a chance at a two-for-one (a basket, a stop defensively, and another chance to score on the final possession). The Wildcats forced a missed jumper and a turnover, and had the ball with under seven seconds left in the period. Freshman
Taylor Morgan, who had a huge day, drove to the paint and created her own layup at the buzzer to put the Wildcats up five points, 66-61. A two-possession lead felt huge in a close tournament game, and the Wildcats were able to pull away in the fourth quarter after an 11-0 run emcompassed the final seconds of the third and into the early fourth.
Key Plays
- 1Q 6:50 | The teams traded baskets early on, and UIW built up as many as a four-point lead three different times, but
Anna McLeod hit ACU's first three-pointer to get ACU within one, 8-7.
- 1Q 3:22 | McLeod was at it again with a triple off a pass from
Kamryn Mraz to again get ACU within one possession, 14-12. The Houston native scored 10 points in the first quarter alone.
- 1Q 1:13 | The ACU freshman were spectacular on Wednesday, and the Wildcats gained their first lead of the day when Alice Stevensomn hit a triple at the top of the key to put ACU up, 17-16.
- 1Q 0:27 | Mrzz hit a three-pointer to put ACU up 20-18, but UIW would score with a second left, and both teams left the first quarter with 20 points on the scoreboard.
- 2Q 7:40 |
Katie Horyna played a huge factor in the game, beginning with a free throw to tie the game at 22. After a McLeod rebound on a missed jumper, Horyna worked her way open in transition for a three-pointer to give ACU the lead.
- 2Q 3:30 | ACU led 29-25, but the Cardinals used a 10-2 run to lead it 35-31. The Wildcats responded by going inside to
Sarah Griswold, who was fouled and hit both free throws. ACU cut it to two, 35-33, and eventually used a 7-0 ru of their own with a three by
Taylor Morgan and a layup from Griswold to lead 38-35.
- 2Q 0:00 | After UIW's Destiny Jenkins hit a three-pointer to put the Cardinals up 43-40, ACU had one last chance before halftime.
Taylor Morgan came off a double screen on the right wing, drew a defender and kicked it to the corner for
Paige Emborsky. The sharp-shooter drained it at the buzzer to tie the game going into the locker room.
- 3Q 8:42 | Emborsky buried a three-pointer just over a minute into the second half, breaking a 46-46 tie.
- 3Q 4:38 | Trailing by one, the 'Cats went back to their sophomore post. Griswold faced the basket, did her signature jab-step move, and a hit the mid-range jumper to put ACU up, 53-52.
- 3Q 0:45 | McLeod buried the three-pointer that would turn this game for the better. ACU led 64-61 after her three, and after forcing the turnover, Morgan hit a layup at the gun to lead 66-61 heading to the fourth.
- 4Q 9:01 | McLeod also started the fourth frame with a bang, hitting a triple in the corner after Morgan took it to the paint and drew defenders in. The pass was perfect, McLeod hit it, and ACU had its largest lead of the game at 69-61.
- 4Q 4:11 | ACU led by seven points, but the Cardinals had scored four straight. Well, insert
Alyssa Adams. The senior took the ball late in the shot clock, and drove it inside to score with less than one on the shot clock. ACU led by nine, and had a great chance to put the game away.
- 4Q 0:44 | The 'Cats made five of their last six free throws, with Mraz and McLeod hitting key shots at the stripe to put the game out of reach.
Stat Pack
- Both teams shot the ball really well in the game, but ACU finished with a 49% shooting cip from the floor, including 12-of-29 (41%) from behind the arc. The 12 three-pointers it the most in a game for ACU since their 14 makes at Lamar on Feb. 6.
- ACU scored 81 points, their most since Dec. 15 against UT-Tyler, and their most against a conference opponent.
- McLeod's 28 points match a career-high, and her 10 rebounds gave her the third double-double of her career. McLeod added three assists and a steal.
- The senior's six three-pointers are the most in a game since Feb. 6, when she hit six at Lamar.
- Adams scored 12 points and added a pair of boards.
- Griswold joined her two teammated in double digits with 10 points to go along with three rebounds.
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Madi Miller grabbed six rebounds, dished out two assists, and added two steals in 28 minutes.
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Taylor Morgan added nine points, dished out a team-high five assists (Mraz) and grabbed three rebounds.
- Mraz matched Morgan with five helpers, and added seven points.
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Katie Horyna and
Paige Emborsky each contributed with six points apiece.
- All in all, eight Wildcats scored in the game.
A "Good"-ie Bag of Quotes
Head Coach
Julie Goodenough
On the win
"I'm just so proud of our team today. We didn't end the season the way we wanted to, but we got a win on Saturday, and had a couple of really good days in practice this week. I'm proud of our fight today. We knew it was going to be a battle, but we just stayed in it and battled to the very end, and made some big shots."
On Anna McLeod's performance
"Anna was really in the zone today. She was locked in and was a great leader on the floor. She would not let us quit in the final few minutes. I was really proud of her today. You know, people talk about Taylor playing in her first tournament, well so did Anna. She didn't get to play last year when we came down here [due to COVID-19] and redshirted the year before. She played so well today."
On Taylor Morgan's game off the bench
"Taylor is so fearless. She is not afraid to take a shot, she's not afraid to dribble and make a play, and she's not afraid to go in and get the ball. I'm really proud of her effort and fight today. She played a great game for us."
Up Next
It will be the first matchup with Nicholls this season, tipping at 2 p.m. on Thursday in the second round. Nicholls earned a No. 6 seed and had the first round off with the new extension to 10 teams in the tournament bracket. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on 102.7 The Bear.
