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Josh Hollwarth

Women's Basketball

Wildcats and Bearkats open WAC Tourney on Monday

Abilene Christian 200x200
#8 Abilene Christian (15-14, 9-9 WAC)

 

vs.

Sam Houston 200x200
#9 Sam Houston (12-16, 8-10 WAC)

GAME #30 - WAC TOURNAMENT FIRST ROUND

#8 ABILENE CHRISTIAN (15-14, 9-9 WAC) vs. #9 SAM HOUSTON (12-16, 8-10 WAC)
Monday, March 6 · 2 p.m. CT · Michelob ULTRA Arena · Las Vegas, Nev.
Watch: ESPN+, ESPN.com/watch, ESPN App (Adam Young, Joan Bonvicini, Kendra Sheehan)
Listen: ACU Sports Network, ACUSports.com/Listen, The Varsity Network (Grant Boone)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast
Tickets: ACU Athletics Ticket Office
Tournament Central
ACU Game Notes

LAS VEGAS – Abilene Christian takes its three-game winning streak into the 2023 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament on Monday afternoon, and the eighth-seeded Wildcats (15-14, 9-9 WAC) will line up against the ninth-seeded Sam Houston Bearkats (12-16, 8-10 WAC) to open the bracket. ACU and Sam Houston meet for the third time this season and second time in less than a week when they tip off on Monday, March 6 at 2 p.m. CT (12 p.m. PT) at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay. It will be the final meeting as conference rivals with the Bearkats, as Sam Houston is off to Conference USA next season. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on the ACU Sports Network.

SERIES HISTORY VS. SAM HOUSTON

  • ALL-TIME | 20th meeting (ACU leads, 14-5)
  • LAST MEETING | ACU 74, Sam Houston 68 (Feb. 28, 2023 - Huntsville)
  • STREAK | ACU, w1
  • IN ABILENE | ACU leads, 6-4
  • IN HUNTSVILLE | ACU leads, 8-1
  • NEUTRAL | First meeting
  • POSTSEASON | First meeting

ACU STORYLINES

  • PLAYING WELL AT THE RIGHT TIME – ACU is on a roll right now, winning each of its last three games of the regular season heading into the tournament. The Wildcats got the signature win it was looking for against the team with the best record in the WAC, Southern Utah, 89-83 in overtime. ACU then went to Sam Houston and topped the Bearkats, 74-68, before winning a very low-scoring, 49-43 game over Seattle U to close the regular year on Thursday. The three-game winning streak is the WAC is just the second-such streak for ACU since joining the conference in 2021.
  • CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY – ACU enters its second WAC Tournament, and will look for its first win in Las Vegas. ACU went 5-2 in seven games at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas as members of the Southland Conference in the postseason. The 'Cats fell to UTRGV in the second round last season at the Orleans Arena after getting a first-round bye, and will now line up against Sam Houston for the first time in postseason play ever on Monday.
  • NEW RECORD ALERT – Langstaff’s 34 points against Southern Utah were the most by a Wildcat individual in the Division I history of the program, surpassing Dominique Golightly’s 33 points in March 2020 against Stephen F. Austin. The grad transfer went 14-21 from the floor and hit three from downtown to go along with eight rebounds. Mal played 42 minutes Thursday night, and her 14 field goals made also set a new D1 program record. The performance earned Mal WAC Player of the Week honors.
  • BEST FOR LAST – Fifth-year senior Madi Miller is playing the best basketball of her career. The Wylie, Texas native eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau with a 20-point game against Utah Valley on Jan. 14, and the veteran now has scored 1,130 points to go with 194 three-pointers made, 487 rebounds, 354 assists, and 150 steals. She has played in more games than anyone in ACU’s entire history (146) as well.
  • MAL-PRACTICE – Fifth-year transfer Maleeah Langstaff has scored in double figures in 10 of the last 12 games, averaging 17.4 points per game during that stretch. Langstaff has 20 games this year with at least five rebounds, has 21 double-digit scoring game on the season and 58 in her career. She currently has 15 career double-doubles as well.
  • BIG COUNTRY – Redshirt freshman Addison Martin, nicknamed “Big Country,” has played in now less than 30 minutes in 12 consecutive games, and is averaging 12.3 points per game on 54% shooting from the floor for the season. Martin has scored in double digits in eight straight and in 11 of her last 12, averaging 15.7 points per game during that time.
  • CAREER MILESTONE WATCH
    • 1,000-Point Club: Aspen Thornton - 913 points
  • COACH GOODENOUGH’S MILESTONES – Head coach Julie Goodenough will coach her 837th career game on Tuesday, and has earned 503 career victories, including 214 as the coach at ACU. Goodenough is in her 29th season overall and her 11th with the Wildcats.

SCOUTING SAM HOUSTON (12-16, 8-10 WAC)

  • The Bearkats are looking to end a four-game skid going into the tournament, with the defeats coming at SFA and UTRGV, and at home against ACU and NM State.
  • Sam Houston averaged 68 points per game and is led offensively by Chyna Allen's 12.9 ppg and Madelyn Batista's 11.5 ppg.

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