ABILENE — The Wildcat women's basketball team welcomed in over 1,000 elementary school kids Wednesday morning at Moody Coliseum, and backed it up with a 77-36 win over the University of the Southwest to earn their second victory in their new home arena. ACU (2-1) opened with a 27-6 first quarter, and coasted the rest of the way en route to the 41-point win. All 13 players on the roster played and scored, led by Addison Martin's 12 and Maleeah Langstaff and Claire Graham's 10. ACU hosted nine elementary schools in the area, and it waws a loud and jam-packed Moody Coliseum around the lunch hour, creating a unique environment to play basketball.
Key Plays
- ACU scored eight points in a hurry to force a Southwest timeout, including back-to-back buckets from Langstaff, a score by Martin in the paint, and a take from point guard Zoe Jackson. That set the tone for the good start.
- ACU held the Lady Mustangs to 3-17 shooting in the first quarter, and sank 11 of their 17 shot attempts on the offensive end. The early lead was pushed all the way out to 18-0 at the six-minute mark of the first period, with Bella Earle and Madi Miller hitting three-pointers in that stretch.
- Leading 22-6, ACU closed the period on a 5-0 burst with a layup from freshman Tristin Keller, a free throw from the rookie, and a layup from Langstaff. The 21-point lead ended the first period.
- ACU struggled to score in the second quarter, only tallying 11 points, but Graham came off the bench and provided a spark with a layup and Alexis Babineaux added three points in the frame as well, and it was a 38-13 lead at the break. ACU only allowed seven points in quarter number two.
- The first seven points of the third quarter all came at the foul line for the 'Cats, then Graham and Keller hit back-to-back three-pointers to build a 33-point lead.
- Graham pushed the lead to 40 points for the first time in the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to go up 66-26.
Turning Point
The 27-6 lead in the first quarter was fueled by ACU hitting two of its seven three-pointers, and scoring the game's first 18 points. That decided the game from the get-go.
Stat Pack
- ACU held a 53-33 rebounding edge Wednesday, and were led by Bella Earle's nine boards. Earle leads the team in rebounding this year with already 26 total.
- The 'Cats shot 43% (27-63) from the floro, despite only going 27% (7-26) from distance. ACU took advantage inside, scoring 36 points in the paint.
- The bench contributed with 32 of the 77 points, led by Graham's 10, the most in her young ACU career. The local Jim Ned product had a tough of fan support in the stands, with kids from her elementary school holding up #23 signs for their hero.
- Earle scored nine and hauled in nine boards to go with two assists and two steals.
- Miller scored eight with five rebounds, while Jackson tallied six points with four of them coming at the foul line. The point guard also had seven rebounds, a career-high.
- Raychael Harjo tallied seven boards, a new career-best, off the bench, while scoring four and blocking a pair of shots.
Head Coach Julie Goodenough Post-Game Interview
Claire Graham Post-Game Interview
Up Next
The Wildcats will be back on the road this Sunday, Nov. 20 when they take on UTSA in San Antonio at 2 p.m.
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