Thursday, January 11
Abilene, Texas
6 p.m.
Abilene Christian
6-7,2-2WAC
55
vs
64
Grand Canyon
13-3,5-0WAC
1
2
3
4
F
Grand Canyon
16
14
20
14
64
Abilene Christian
18
14
8
15
55
Photo by: Josh Beam
Rough Third Quarter Costs ACU
1/11/2024 9:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ABILENE – Grand Canyon used a strong inside game in the third quarter and took a 64-55 win at Abilene Christian on Thursday.
GCU made penetrating drives and passes into the paint for easy baskets and shot 53 percent from the field in the third quarter. The Lopes won the third quarter 20-8 while ACU had played evenly or outscored GCU in the other three.
"We knew the keys to the game pretty well and for probably 30 minutes we played pretty well," said ACU Head Coach Julie Goodenough. "Not the third quarter through. We just were not clear on defensive assignments. We had some defensive lapses that were pretty costly for us. We've got to play a complete game. We have to play 40 minutes against a really good team like Grand Canyon."
The first half saw the Wildcats shoot nearly 50 percent from the field and the Cats took a 32-30 lead into halftime.
ACU struggled offensively in the second half and finished the night with 20 turnovers.
Payton Hull had 19 points and Aspen Thornton added 15 to lead ACU
"Proud of the way Aspen came in and played," said Goodenough. "She's been out for a while and played some heavy minutes for us today. I thought she played really tough, you know, handling the basketball under pretty good pressure most of the night."
The teams were evenly matched in the rebound category at 32-32 with Bella Earle grabbing a team-high six. Hull led the team with four steals.
ACU returns to the court in Moody Coliseum on Saturday, hosting California Baptist at 1 p.m.
GCU made penetrating drives and passes into the paint for easy baskets and shot 53 percent from the field in the third quarter. The Lopes won the third quarter 20-8 while ACU had played evenly or outscored GCU in the other three.
"We knew the keys to the game pretty well and for probably 30 minutes we played pretty well," said ACU Head Coach Julie Goodenough. "Not the third quarter through. We just were not clear on defensive assignments. We had some defensive lapses that were pretty costly for us. We've got to play a complete game. We have to play 40 minutes against a really good team like Grand Canyon."
The first half saw the Wildcats shoot nearly 50 percent from the field and the Cats took a 32-30 lead into halftime.
ACU struggled offensively in the second half and finished the night with 20 turnovers.
Payton Hull had 19 points and Aspen Thornton added 15 to lead ACU
"Proud of the way Aspen came in and played," said Goodenough. "She's been out for a while and played some heavy minutes for us today. I thought she played really tough, you know, handling the basketball under pretty good pressure most of the night."
The teams were evenly matched in the rebound category at 32-32 with Bella Earle grabbing a team-high six. Hull led the team with four steals.
ACU returns to the court in Moody Coliseum on Saturday, hosting California Baptist at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
GCU
ACU
FG%
.491
.362
3FG%
.313
.227
FT%
.538
.727
RB
32
32
TO
14
20
STL
8
5
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
6
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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