ABILENE – Abilene Christian fought off a key injury and surprised Western Athletic Conference front-runner California Baptist on Saturday in overtime, 96-93.
With ACU up 8-2 with 6:31 left in the first quarter, starting forward
Addison Martin went down with an injury. The Cats responded quickly. ACU completed an early 10-0 run for a 10-2 lead and kept the momentum going forward for a 19-6 lead on a
Bella Earle three-pointer with 3:19 left in the quarter.
Earle finished the game with 24 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. Martin's stand-in, freshman
Meredith Mayes, got her first double-double with 13 points and a dozen rebounds and
Aspen Thornton scored a crucial 20 points with
Payton Hull and
Clare Traeger coming through for 13 and 10 points, respectively.
"Just a great team win," said ACU Head Coach
Julie Goodenough. "We played so many different people. We had people in foul trouble. Addie plays for three minutes and goes out. When you lose a player like Addie Martin three minutes into the game, you take your game plan and you throw it out the window. Then you just have to be creative without your best inside scoring threat. And all we did was throw freshman
Meredith Mayes. She did some big things for us. Her offensive rebound and put-backs were huge. Just her ability to find shooters and pass and get rebounds was really big for us tonight."
It was the first WAC loss of the season for CBU (13-2, 5-1). ACU got 21 second-chance points off 17 offensive rebounds and 29 points off the bench.
"Players that we subbed in. They were ready to take on new roles, you know, without Addi out there," Goodenough said. "We played two fours at the same time. We had Bella at the four. Whatever we asked them to do, they rose to the occasion at critical times in the game. In overtime, we've got three freshmen on the floor, and they're just getting it done for us."
CBU used a 28-point second quarter to take a 45-42 lead into halftime.
ACU kept the short-handed Lancers in constant foul trouble for the entire second half and CBU played the final possession of overtime with four players on the floor.
California Baptist got a dose of momentum with a second-chance basket at the buzzer to end the third quarter with a 64-62 lead. The Lancers clung to a lead until Earle took a pass from
Gracy Wernli and knocked down a three-pointer for a 69-67 lead with 6:51 left in regulation.
ACU had a four-point lead with 1:04 left in the fourth quarter but got the crucial baskets with Chloe Webb (37 points) tying the game with 28 seconds.
The Cats never trailed in overtime. Earle hit two free throws three seconds into the extra time and added a three-pointer for an 81-76 lead with 4:03 to go. Mayes got a put-back at the 3:06 mark for an 83-78 lead. CBU got close again but Hull knocked down a clutch three-pointer for an 87-81 lead.
ACU went to the free throw line eight times in the final minute and converted all eight but the pesky Lancers had a last chance to tie the game. Filipa Barros' shot missed at the buzzer and ACU collected the big win.
"Cal Baptist is top of the WAC and they have been since we've been in the league," Goodenough said. "Credit them for coming in and battling us for 45 minutes. Everybody contributed tonight, really good team victory. And that's the only way you can win consistently in the WAC is for your entire team to buy in and do what they can when they have an opportunity to play."
