ABILENE – Abilene Christian got off to a slow start but pulled away for a 77-52 win over Southwestern Assemblies of God University on Monday in both teams' season opener.
All 14 Wildcats played at least six minutes and a pair of newcomers came off of the bench to score double figures. Freshmen
Payton Hull had 14 points and
Emma Troxell added 10 and was part of a charge-taking flurry that turned things around in the second quarter.
The freshman came in and scored on her first collegiate three-point attempt 27 seconds later, giving her a dose of college confidence.
"I thought after I hit that three-pointer, 'All right, I've got this,'" said Hull.
After trailing 18-17 at the end of the first period, ACU took three charges in the opening moments of the second quarter.
"If you block a shot, you don't always get the ball back but if you take a charge, you get the ball 100 percent of the time," said
Julie Goodenough.
"If I take a charge, I don't have to run down a loose ball," Troxell said.
On the other end,
Aspen Thornton connected on a three-pointer, Troxell added a three-point play and
Addison Martin scored in the paint for a 25-18 lead and the Wildcats never trailed again.
Clare Traeger gave the Cats a 37-26 lead with a three-pointer at the 2:09 mark for their first double-figure lead.
Zoe Jackson scored a pair of free throws with 63 seconds to go for a 39-27 lead that stood for the rest of the half.
Meredith Mayes put in a layup with 3:33 left in the third quarter for ACU's first 20-plus lead, 57-36.
Yle Exposito Perez scored with 42 seconds remaining in the game for the final score and largest margin of the night.
In addition to Hull's 14 and Troxell's 10, ACU got 13 points from Martin and 12 from Thornton.
Bella Earle hauled in six rebounds. Thornton and Troxell paced the Cats with three assists each.
Defensively, Thornton had three steals and Hull had ACU's lone blocked shot.
The Wildcats return to action in Moody Coliseum on Thursday when Rice comes in for a 7 p.m. tip.
