Women's basketball battles pair of I-20 rivals

ABILENE – The Abilene Christian women's basketball team, fresh off a four-game stretch in eight days time, gets ready for an important week with a pair of teams that travel down Interstate 20 to either get to or drive from Abilene. The Wildcats (11-13, 5-8 WAC) will host their long-time rival Tarleton on Thursday, Feb. 16 before heading over to the Metroplex to take on UT Arlington on Saturday, Feb. 18. It's the second meeting of the year against both teams, as ACU goes for the season sweep of both opponents. Thursday's game tips at 6 p.m. for $1 Day at Moody, while Saturday's game tips at 2 p.m. Both games will air on ESPN+, while Thursday night's also airs on the ACU Sports Network.

SERIES HISTORY VS. TARLETON

• ALL-TIME | 14th meeting (Tarleton leads 9-4)
• LAST MEETING | ACU 61, Tarleton 43 (Dec. 29, 2022 - Stephenville)
• STREAK | ACU, w2
• IN ABILENE | Tarleton leads, 3-1
• IN STEPHENVILLE | Tarleton leads, 6-3
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

SERIES HISTORY VS. UT ARLINGTON

• ALL-TIME | 3rd meeting (ACU leads, 2-0)
• LAST MEETING | ACU 92, UTA 72 (Jan. 7, 2023 - Abilene)
• STREAK | ACU, w2
• IN ABILENE | ACU leads, 1-0
• IN ARLINGTON | ACU leads, 1-0
• NEUTRAL | n/a
• POSTSEASON | n/a

ACU STORYLINES

• TOUGH 1-3 WEEK PLAYING FOUR TIMES IN EIGHT DAYS
  • Due to bad Texas weather the week before, ACU was forced to move its games and ended up playing four times in an eight-day span. ACU fell to SFA on Senior Day on Saturday, Feb. 4 before topping Utah Valley on Monday, Feb. 6 at home, 73-46. The week continued with a loss at home to California Baptist on Thursday, Feb. 9, 77-75, and a road loss last Saturday, Feb. 11 at UTRGV, 75-71. In four of ACU’s last five losses, the games have been decided by nine points or less.
• THE WILDCATS ARE SUCCESSFUL WHEN…
  • They are at home: 8-3
  • They lead at the half: 10-4
  • They have a higher shooting percentage than their opponent: 11-3
  • They out-rebound their opponent: 10-3
  • They score more bench points: 10-2
• MILLER TIME
  • Fifth-year senior Madi Miller eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau with a 20-point game against Utah Valley on Jan. 14, and the veteran now has scored 1,068 points to go with 179 three-pointers made, 464 rebounds, 342 assists, and 149 steals. She has played in more games than anyone in ACU’s entire history (141) as well.
• MAL’S PLACE
  • Fifth-year transfer Maleeah Langstaff has scored in double figures in seven straight games, and averaging 12.0 points per game during that stretch. Langstaff has 16 games this year with at least five rebounds, has 18 double-digit scoring game on the season and 55 in her career. She currently has 15 career double-doubles as well.
• ADDI-BALL
  • Redshirt freshman Addison Martin put together her first career double-double at Grand Canyon, then backed it up with a 20-point game against Utah Valley. Martin has played in no less than 30 minutes in seven consecutive games, and is averaging 11.4 points per game on 55% shooting from the floor for the season.
• CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
  • 1,000-Point Club: Aspen Thornton - 836 points
  • 150-Steal Club: Madi Miller - 149 steals
  • 100-Steal Club: Aspen Thornton - 94 steals
• COACH GOODENOUGH’S MILESTONES
  • Head coach Julie Goodenough will coach her 832nd career game on Thursday, and has earned 499 career victories, including 210 as the coach at ACU. Goodenough is in her 29th season overall and her 11th with the Wildcats.

SCOUTING TARLETON (7-17, 1-12 WAC)

• The Texans are looking to snap an eight-game skid that included three home losses in four games, with all games coming in that eight-day stretch.
• Tarleton is scoring 62.4 points per game and is led by Teresa Da Silva's 14.2 points per contest.

SCOUTING UT ARLINGTON (11-14, 5-8 WAC)

• The Mavericks are coming off a win at Seattle U last Saturday, and will play at home against Sam Houston on Thursday before hosting ACU on Saturday.
• UTA is led by three players who average double digits in points, including Starr Jacobs (16.2 ppg), Kayla White (14.6 ppg), and Jireh Washington (11.7 ppg).

Follow ACU Women's Basketball on Social Media
Twitter: @ACUWBB | @ACUsports
Instagram: @acuwbb | @acusports
Facebook: /ACUWomensBasketball | /ACUSports

#GoWildcats