No. 7 Wildcats set for rematch with UIW in Katy

KATY, Texas – The No. 7 seed ACU women's basketball team opens postseason play on Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the 2021 Hercules Tires Southland Conference Tournament at the Leonard E. Merrell Center. The Wildcats (13-9, 6-7 SLC) takes on the No. 10 seed Incarnate Word Cardinals for the right to play No. 6 seed Nicholls in the second round on Thursday. ACU and UIW just met to close the regular season on Saturday, with the Wildcats winning 64-55 on Senior Day, and will be the second game to open the women's bracket on Wednesday. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on 102.7 The Bear. ACU looks to defend their title as reigning tournament champions as the 2020 tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.

FOLLOW THE GAME

SERIES HISTORY

This will be the 36th meeting between the schools, both in the Division I and Division II ranks. The teams were long-time rivals in the Lone Star Conference before moving up to the Southland Conference in 2013. ACU leads the series 25-10, and the teams will now meet for the second time in five days after their scheduled first meeting this season was canceled due to COVID-19.

ACU STORYLINES

• OUR TOURNAMENT HISTORY: ACU punched its ticket to its fourth-consecutive Southland Conference Tournament, and holds a 4-1 all-time record in Katy. ACU is 1-0 in the first round, defeating New Orleans in the 2018 before falling to Central Arkansas in the quarterfinals. In 2019, the Wildcats won three games in three days, beating UCA, Lamar, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to claim the team's first Southland Conference Tournament Championship and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. ACU qualified at the No. 3 seed in 2020 before the tourney was canceled due to COVID-19.
• THE SECOND MATCHUP AFTER ALL: ACU was scheduled to play UIW in January down in San Antonio, but COVID-19 challenges with the Cardinal program canceled the game. The teams met the for the first time this season on Saturday, and now turn around and will get the second matchup this season in the first round. It's the first-ever post-season matchup between the teams.
• ALL-CONFERENCE: Seniors Anna McLeod and Alyssa Adams were both named to the All-Southland second team on Tuesday. McLeod averaged 14.5 points per game in league competition this year, the seventh-highest total in the league, and hauled in 6.2 rebounds per game as well. McLeod totaled 10 double-digit scoring efforts and two 20-point games against league competition, and recorded back-to-back double-doubles against Lamar (28-11) and Houston Baptist (19-12). Adams was dominant on the inside, averaged 14.2 points per game against conference opponents, and hauling in a conference-best 9.6 rebounds per game. The San Antonio native tallied three double-doubles against league opponents and has eight double-digit scoring games, including three 20-point efforts. She secured 22 rebounds against Lamar, and a season-high 28 points against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
• CLIMBING THE RECORD BOOKS: Alyssa Adams ranks second in ACU's Division I history in career field goal percentage (51.7) and third in career blocks (80). She is one away from tying Sara Williamson for second on the list. Suzzy Dimba (2013-17) has a ridiculous 194 in her one-of-a-kind career, sitting in the top spot.
• HISTORIC STRETCH: Alyssa Adams scored 20 or more points in three straight games for ACU earlier this season (26 vs. UAB, 24 vs. Stetson, 28 vs. Corpus Christi). She joins Anna McLeod as the only players this season to do so (Anna scored 23 vs. Midwestern State, 22 vs. UTPB, and 28 vs. Northern Colorado). There are only three other Wildcats in the D1 era (2013-present) to do so. Sydney Shelstead scored 63 points in three games in Jan. 2016. Alexis Mason scored 82 points in three games in Jan. 2017. Breanna Wright scored 20+ in five straight games to end the 2019-20 season (115 points in five games).
• COACH GOODENOUGH'S MILESTONES: Head coach Julie Goodenough earned her 470th career win against UIW on Saturday, and her 181st as the coach at ACU.

SCOUTING UIW (6-8, 4-5 SLC)

• The Cardinals qualified for the tournament after just barely making the minimum requirement of eight games played to qualify for Katy. UIW's win over HBU last Wednesday earned them their second straight bid to the tournament, but the first one they will be able to play in program history.
• UIW is led by Jaaucklyn Moore's 11.9 points per game, and Starr Omozee is the leading rebounder at 5.8 per contest.
• Destiny Jenkins scored a career-high 19 points on a career-best five three-pointers on Saturday against ACU.