ABILENE – Abilene Christian clinched a spot in the WAC Tournament and honored its seniors with a 74-62 win over Utah Tech on Saturday.
Before the game, ACU recognized
Clare Traeger and
Brooke Jessen in their last appearance in uniform at Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats improved to 9-9 in the league and sealed a spot in the WAC Tournament, which begins in Las Vegas on March 13.
ACU closed out its home schedule with two wins to seal the postseason berth.
"This is such a great week for our program with back-to-back team victories. People sharing the ball, people stepping up, playing good defense, getting rebounds, diving after loose balls - just making plays for each other," said ACU Head Coach
Julie Goodenough. "I think probably these were the best back-to-back games of defensive effort that we've had this season. Our players are starting to really trust themselves and trust their teammates."
Every starter reached double figures in the scoring column with
Bella Earle getting a double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds. She also had six assists.
Payton Hull led the scoring effort with 16 points but also had a big day with nine rebounds and seven assists.
Zoe Jackson added 14 points,
Addison Martin scored 12 points to go with seven rebounds and Traeger had one of her best games with a dozen points and eight boards.
ACU used a 10-0 run in the first quarter to build a 17-4 lead.
The Blazers rallied to take a 21-20 lead midway through the second quarter but ACU responded with another 10-0 run, including three-pointers by Earle, Jackson and Hull.
The Cats led 42-28 at the half.
ACU led by as many as 19 points on two occasions in the third quarter.
The Wildcats racked up 50 rebounds for the game and had out-rebounded Tech by 20. ACU grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and limited their guests to three.
ACU returns to the courts next week, visiting Seattle on Thursday and Utah Valley to close the regular season on Saturday.
