WBB back on the road for a pair this week

ABILENE – The Abilene Christian women's basketball team wraps up the month of January with a challenging road test out west. The Wildcats (10-8, 4-3 WAC) take their two-game winning streak to NM State and Grand Canyon this week for the only meetings of the year against those two schools. ACU opens the week on Thursday, Jan. 26 in Las Cruces against the Aggies at 7 p.m. CT before wrapping the weekend in Phoenix against the Lopes on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 3 p.m. CT. Both games will air on ESPN+.

SERIES HISTORY VS. NM STATE

• ALL-TIME | 4th meeting (ACU leads, 3-0)
• LAST MEETING | ACU 76, NM State 73 (Jan. 15, 2022 - Abilene)
• STREAK | ACU, w3
• IN ABILENE | ACU leads, 2-0
• IN LAS CRUCES | ACU leads, 1-0
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

SERIES HISTORY VS. GRAND CANYON

• ALL-TIME | 4th meeting (GCU leads, 2-1)
• LAST MEETING | GCU 74, ACU 69 (Jan. 13, 2022 - Abilene)
• STREAK | GCU, w1
• IN ABILENE | GCU leads, 1-0
• IN PHOENIX | 1st meeting
• NEUTRAL | GCU leads, 2-0 (Colorado Springs and Denton)
• POSTSEASON | n/a

ACU STORYLINES

• 'CATS HOLD ON TO TOP UTRGV
  • Addison Martin scored 21 points, Maleeah Langstaff scored 18, and ACU held on in a wild game against UTRGV last Saturday. The Wildcats survived a 34-point game from Iyana Dorsey and went 18-22 at the free throw line to hold on for a 69-65 victory over the Vaqueros. ACU avenged last year's loss in the WAC Tournament to UTRGV, and has now won two in a row in conference play for the first time this season. ACU won the fourth quarter 22-20 and hit 10 free throws in the final 10 minutes to hold on for the win.
• MILLER TIME
  • Fifth-year senior Madi Miller eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau with a 20-point game against Utah Valley. The senior now has scored 1,012 points to go with 168 three-pointers made, 435 rebounds, 329 assists, and 143 steals. She has played in more games than anyone in ACU’s Division I history (135). Miller is leading ACU with 12.6 points per game this season and is shooting 43% from the floor.
• MAL'S PLACE
  • Fifth-year transfer Maleeah Langstaff dropped in 18 points in Saturday's win over UTRGV, and grabbed nine more boards to land just short of her fifth double-double of the year. Langstaff is scoring 11.7 points per game and is averaging a team-high 6.8 rebounds each night.led the way with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double against Utah Tech. She has 14 double-digit scoring game on the season and 50 in her career. She currently has 15 career double-doubles as well.
• ADDI-BALL
  • Redshirt freshman Addison Martin scored a team-high 21 in the win over the Vaqueros, and did so going 6-10 from the field and 9-12 at the foul line. Martin played for 33 minutes and grabbed five big rebounds as well. Martin, in her first year playing, is averaging 10.8 points per game and 5.7 rebounds each night. She is playing her best basketball of the season.
• CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
  • 1,000-Point Club: Aspen Thornton - 804 points
  • 150-Steal Club: Madi Miller - 143 steals
  • 100-Steal Club: Aspen Thornton - 86 steals
• COACH GOODENOUGH’S MILESTONES
  • Head coach Julie Goodenough will coach her 826th career game on Thursday, and has earned 498 career victories, including 209 as the coach at ACU. Goodenough is in her 29th season overall and her 11th with the Wildcats.

SCOUTING NM STATE (10-10, 5-3 WAC)

• The Aggies are coming off a road split at GCU and Seattle U last weekend, falling to the Lopes, 69-62, before topping the Redhawks, 58-50. NM State is 5-3 at home this year and has home WAC wins over Tarleton and Sam Houston.
• These two teams played a memorable one last year in Abilene. ACU trailed by 19 points late in the third quarter and came all the way back to win, 73-70. ACU is makings its first trip to Las Cruces since the 2018-19 season, when they beat the Aggies in non-conference play just before Thanksgiving, 58-46.
• NM State forces 19.6 turnovers per game and get 10.2 steals each night, the second-most in the WAC and top 30 in the country. Offensively, they are led by Molly Kaiser's 11.8 points per game.

SCOUTING GRAND CANYON (14-5, 6-2 WAC)

• The Lopes had their six-game winning streak snapped last Saturday at California Baptist, falling to the Lancers, 78-70. GCU will host Southern Utah on Wednesday night before taking on ACU on Saturday.
• GCU forces 22.5 turnovers per game, the best in the league and in the top 10 in America, and tally 13.3 steals each game, the best in the conference as well.
• Offensively, the Lopes are led by Naudia Evans' 11.2 ppg, while Tiarra Brown and Olivia Lane each score 10.3 ppg.

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