ABILENE – Abilene Christian returns to action on Thursday, hosting Tarleton State at 6 p.m. before hitting the road on Saturday to take on Texas-Arlington at 2 p.m.
ACU is 7-7 this season and 3-2 in the Western Athletic Conference after a thrilling 96-93 overtime win over California Baptist on Saturday.
Tarleton State comes in Thursday at 4-10 overall and 1-4 in the WAC.
UTA enters the week at 8-8 on the season and 4-2 in the league.
ACU Storylines
Living at the Arch: Abilene Christian is sixth in the NCAA with 28.9 three-point field goal attempts per game and 13th nationally in three-pointers per game at 9.3. Wildcat freshman
Payton Hull leads the Western Athletic Conference and is 28th in the NCAA with 2.79 three-pointers made per game.
About the Boards: ACU is 29th in the nation with its 15.1 offensive rebounds per game.
Bella Earle averages 2.6 offensive rebounds per game to keep possessions alive. ACU also is 67th in the NCAA with 40.5 rebounds per game with Earle leading the way at 8.4 per game. Earle is second in the WAC in rebounding. ACU also leads the WAC in rebound margin at 6.6.
WAC Attack: Against the Western Athletic Conference,
Payton Hull averages 19.6 points and 2.2 steals per game,
Aspen Thornton gets 14.5 points per game and
Bella Earle fills the stat sheet with 13.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.
Trending: Over the last three games, ACU owns a rebounding margin of 9.7 more rebounds per game than its opponent. Also in that span,
Aspen Thornton is averaging 17.5 points,
Payton Hull averages 14 points and two steals and
Bella Earle is getting 11.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists.
Four Score: ACU has four players averaging in double figures, led by
Payton Hull at 15.
Bella Earle averages 12 points, followed by
Aspen Thornton at 11.8 and
Addison Martin at 10.2.
Last Game: ACU scored a 96-93 overtime win over California Baptist on Saturday.
Bella Earle had 24 points, 15 rebounds and six assists while
Meredith Mayes came off the bench for her first double-double, getting 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Aspen Thornton added 20 points and
Payton Hull scored 13.
History with Tarleton State: ACU won its last meeting with the Texans, 78-60.
Addison Martin had 18 points and
Bella Earle led the Cats with nine rebounds.
Aspen Thornton came up with 16 points, six assists and three steals.
History with Texas-Arlington: ACU won the home meeting with UTA this season, 94-76 in November.
Bella Earle had a triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Payton Hull scored 31 points and Clare Graham added 10. Gia Adams led the Mavericks with 18 points with Avery Brittingham adding 15.
Scouting Tarleton State
- Tarleton State lost to Grand Canyon on Saturday, 79-47, for its third consecutive loss.
- Jakaria Long averages 10.5 points per game.
- Faith Acker averages 10.5 points and seven rebounds per game.
Scouting UTA
- The Mavericks have won seven consecutive games heading into Thursday's game with UT-Rio Grande Valley. They defeated Seattle on Saturday, 72-54.
- UTA leads the WAC in blocked shots per game at 3.9. Adela Volkova leads the league with 1.69 blocked shots per game.
- Avery Brittingham, who leads the WAC with 8.4 rebounds per game, also leads The Mavs with 3.9 assists and averages 12.6 points per game.
- Taliyah Clark leads UTA with 13.1 points per game.
