ABILENE – Abilene Christian faces Tarleton State in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
The game will air on ESPN+ and live stats are available
here.
ACU enters as the No. 6 seed and the Texans are seeded seventh.
ACU and Tarleton State spit their series during the regular season. ACU won at home, 73-51, but lost in Stephenville, 74-66.
ACU Storylines
LOOKING FOR SUCCESS: ACU is looking for its first Western Athletic Conference Tournament win. The Wildcats lost in the first round last season, 82-81, to Sam Houston. The Cats fell in 2022 to UTRGV, 73-70.
US vs. THEM: In its two games against Tarleton State this season,
Bella Earle averages 13 points, 7.5 rebounds and five assists.
Payton Hull averages 11 points and
Meredith Mayes averages 10 points and eight rebounds.
SECRET WEAPON: Addison Martin has only seen 10 minutes of action in the series against Tarleton State this season. Martin is averaging 11 points per game.
THEM vs. US: Tarleton State averaged 62.5 points in its two games against the Wildcats and shot 36 percent in the series. Miannah Little led TSU with 14.5 points and Jakoriah Long added 12.5 points per game.
TRENDS: ACU is holding opponents to 57 points per game over the last three contests.
Payton Hull is averaging 4.3 three-pointers and 17.3 points per game in that stretch.
Addison Martin averages 13 points and
Bella Earle checks in at 10 points, 10.7 rebounds and five assists per game. The Cats are shooting 86.2 percent from the free throw line in the last three games.
AGAINST THE WAC FIELD: Abilene Christian is 5-9 against the WAC Tournament field with splits against Tarleton State, Southern Utah, Texas-Arlington, Utah Tech and California Baptist. ACU lost the series with Stephen F. Austin and Grand Canyon.
AGAINST THE LEAGUE: ACU finished up at 10-10 in the WAC with wins in three of the last four games.
Payton Hull averages 16.6 points,
Addison Martin gets 11 points and
Bella Earle averages 12.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 4.35 assists against the league.
WINNING NUMBERS: In its 14 wins this season, ACU averages 78.5 points and holds opponents to 59.9 points per game. In this year's victories,
Payton Hull averages 15.6 points.
Bella Earle averages 14.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists.
LOOK AT US: ACU averages 8.7 three-pointers made on 28.6 attempts per game. Those numbers are 18th and sixth, respectively, in the NCAA. The Wildcats lead the WAC with 13.2 offensive rebounds per game. For the season, Hull leads the team with 15.3 points per game, followed by
Bella Earle at 12.3 and
Addison Martin at 11.1.
EARLE OF QUALITY MINUTES: Bella Earle leads the league with 34.86 minutes per game, 8.2 rebounds per game and two triple-doubles.
SCOUTING TARLETON: Tarleton State is 10-19 overall and 7-13 in the WAC after a 62-57 win at Seattle on Saturday. Jakoria Long leads the Texans at 11.1 points per game.
