ABILENE – Abilene Christian kept its momentum going in a positive direction with a 73-51 win over Tarleton State on Thursday.
The Wildcats, fresh from an overtime win over previous Western Athletic Conference leader California Baptist, emphasized rebounding in the second half and ACU will head out on the road for four games with a head of steam.
"Our quick start was a huge key to the game, said ACU Head Coach
Julie Goodenough. "That's something that we emphasized today. You get out and knock shots down early. I credit our starters for that."
ACU had three three-pointers in the first three minutes and got out to a 15-2 lead at the midpoint of the first quarter.
The Texans trimmed the lead to 20-11 by the end of the first quarter and got within a point, 23-22, three minutes into the second quarter.
"Tarleton made a defensive adjustment, made it a little bit harder for us to get open and that got them kind of rolling a little bit," said Goodenough. "In the second quarter, we shared baskets and no team could really get the advantage."
Tarleton State had posted eight points on second-chance baskets in the first half and ACU put a stop to that in the second.
"We had given up eight points in the first half off offensive rebound so that was a point of emphasis at halftime," Goodenough said. "I told them we gotta block out; we can't let them get those extra possessions. And they didn't score any points off rebounds in the second half. That was a big part of slowing down their offensive production."
The Wildcats methodically bulked the lead back to 16 points late in the third quarter with the ACU bench responding well to their opportunities.
ACU finished the game on an 8-0 run, including five points from
Zoe Jackson, to make the final score the largest margin of the game.
Bella Earle led the Cats with a double-dozen with 12 points and 12 rebounds while Peyton Hull added 12 points and seven boards.
Aspen Thornton,
Emma Troxell and Jackson had 11 points apiece.
Meredith Mayes, making her first start, finished with nine points and nine rebounds. Earle also led the team with six assists.
The Cats, 8-7 overall and 4-2 in the WAC, play at Texas-Arlington on Saturday afternoon to launch the four-game road swing.
