ABILENE – Abilene Christian got off to a strong start and never trailed in a 66-53 win over Utah Valley on Saturday in Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats forced eight turnovers and turned that into an 11-0 advantage in points off of turnovers in the first quarter.
"You know, winning the first quarter by 13 proved to be what we had to have tonight," said ACU Head Coach
Julie Goodenough. "There are no easy games in the WAC and you have to win at home. Everybody's fighting for a spot in the tournament. We couldn't have asked for a better start. Credit our starters for being locked in. We got defensive stops that we converted. Maybe one of the best starts we've had this whole season."
ACU scored the first 12 points of the game, the last five in that run by
Clare Traeger, and never looked back. The Cats took a 17-4 lead into the second quarter.
Abilene Christian kept the double-figure lead throughout the first half and saw its lead peak at 41-20 with 7:29 remaining in the third quarter when
Bella Earle converted a three-point play.
The Wolverines were able to get as close as seven points early in the fourth quarter after a strong finish to the third quarter, but ACU responded with a 7-0 run, punctuated by a
Zoe Jackson three-pointer. That spree saw ACU up 55-41 with 7:15 to go and UVU never seriously threatened from there.
Earle led the Wildcats with 16 points, followed by
Payton Hull with 11 and
Addison Martin with 10. Jackson had nine points to go with a team-high 12 rebounds.
Emma Troxell led the bench with eight points and six rebounds.
Hull had four steals and Martin blocked two shots.
The Wildcats continue the homestand on Thursday with a 6 p.m. visit from UTRGV.
