ABILENE – Abilene Christian finishes off its four-game home stand this week with UTYRGV visiting for a 6 p.m. game on Thursday, followed by a 1 p.m. game on Saturday against Stephen F. Austin.
The Wildcats are 10-11 overall and 6-6 in the Western Athletic Conference.
UTRGV enters at 5-16 on the season and 4-8 in the league after a 62-49 win at SFA on Thursday.
SFA is 15-9 overall and 9-3 in the WAC following an 84-74 loss on Saturday to UT-Arlington in Nacogdoches.
ACU Storylines
LAST GAME: ACU won the first two installments of the current four-game home stand, including a 66-53 win on Saturday against Utah Valley.
Bella Earle had 16 points
Payton Hull added 11 and
Addison Martin had 10 in that win.
TREYS: ACU is sixth nationally with 29.1 three-pointers attempted per game. The Cats, who shoot 30.1 percent from the arch, are 17th in the nation with 8.8 three-pointers made.
Payton Hull leads the WAC in three-pointers per game at 2.62 and is third in shooting, hitting 34.6 percent from the perimeter.
TRIP-DUBS: Bella Earle continues to be third in the NCAA with her two triple-doubles this season. She had them in back-to-back games against Navy and UTA. She is the only player in the WAC with two.
BOARD WORK: ACU leads the Western Athletic Conference with a 4.9 rebound margin.
Bella Earle leads the Wildcats and is fourth in the league with 7.5 rebounds per game.
LOOK AT US: Payton Hull leads the Wildcats in scoring at 14.8 points per game, followed by
Bella Earle at 12.1 and
Addison Martin at 9.9 Earle leads the team with 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
HOME CATS: ACU is 8-3 at home this season and 5-1 against the WAC in Moody.
Bella Earle and
Payton Hull average 12.8 points apiece at home with Earle also leading with 7.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists.
Zoe Jackson shoots 40.1 percent from three-point range and 56 percent from the field at home while
Meredith Mayes is strong inside, hitting 62.2 percent of her shots at home.
AGAINST THE WAC: ACU has been a good fourth-quarter team against the league, out-scoring opponents 209-174.
Payton Hull leads the Cats with 16.5 points and two steals per league game.
Bella Earle averages 12.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per league game.
Addison Martin shoots 48 percent from the field and
Emma Troxell and
Claire Graham are 41.7 percent three-point shooters against WAC opponents.
TRENDY: In its last three games, ACU has outscored opponents 21.3 to 14.7 in the second quarter.
Bella Earle is averaging 16 points and five assists in the last three games and has connected on all nine of her free throw attempts.
Payton Hull is averaging 10.3 points and 2.3 steals per game in the last three games. During that same span,
Zoe Jackson is averaging six rebounds and shooting 40 percent from three-point land and
Meredith Mayes (66.7),
Emma Troxell (58.3) and
Addison Martin (52.6) are shooting well from the field.
LAST TIME VS. UTRGV: ACU won at UTRGV 62-53 earlier this season. Garcy Wernli started and scored 13 points.
Addison Martin scored 12 and
Payton Hull added 10.
Bella Earle had eight points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Iyana Dorsey had 21 points and Kade Hackerott added 12 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Vaqueros.
SCOUTING THE VAQUEROS: Kade Hackerott leads UTRGV and the WAC with 8.3 rebounds per game. She also averages 11.2 points per game and a team-best 2.8 assists. Iyana Dorsey leads the team with her 13.1 scoring average.
LAST TIME VS. SFA: Stephen F. Austin got the 89-82 overtime win against the Wildcats last semester.
Payton Hull had 25 points and five steals,
Addison Martin scored 20 and
Bella Earle went for 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Kyla Deck led SFA with 24 points and 11 rebounds while Destini Lombard added 18 points and nine assists.
SCOUTING THE JACKS: Kurstyn Harden leads the WAC with her 55 percent shooting and 127 made free throws this season. She's also third in free throw percentage at 81.4. Hurd leads SFA with 16.3 points and 7.5 rebounds. Deck, a 38.8 percent three-point shooter, averages 11.3 points and Destini Lombard gets 10 points and four assists per game.
