ABILENE – Abilene Christian makes its final road trip of the regular season this week, visiting Seattle at 8 p.m. (Central) on Thursday and Utah Valley at 3 p.m. (Central) on Saturday.
ACU comes into the week at 13-14 on the season and 9-9 in the Western Athletic Conference after home wins last week over Southern Utah and Utah Tech.
Seattle is 5-22 on the year and 5-13 in the league after a two-win week, beating UTRGV and UT-Arlington on the road.
Utah Valley is 9-18 on the season and 4-14 in the WAC after losing its fourth consecutive game – a road loss at UT-Arlington on Saturday.
ACU Storylines
CLINCHED: ACU punched its postseason ticket on Saturday with a win against Utah Tech. The Wildcats currently stand and while ACU could move up in the standings, passing Utah Tech in the WAC's complex résumé seeding index would be unlikely.
SECOND CHANCES: Abilene Christian leads the WAC with 13.3 offensive rebounds per game and is second in the league with a positive 4.4 rebounding margin.
Bella Earle, who had two 16-rebound games last week, leads the WAC with 8.2 rebounds per game.
Addison Martin averages 2.4 and Earle 2.3 offensive rebounds per game.
THREES-R-US: The Wildcats are sixth nationally with 28.6 three-point attempts per game. ACU is 18th in the NCAA with 8.7 made three-pointers per game. Freshman
Payton Hull averages a WAC-leading 2.63 made three-pointers per game and is second in the league at 35.3 percent accuracy.
WORK FORCE: Earle played all 40 minutes on Saturday and leads the Western Athletic Conference with 34.75 minutes per game.
TRI-DUBS: Earle is third in the NCAA in triple-doubles with two. She went back-to-back last semester with triple-doubles against Navy and Texas-Arlington. She trails only Caitlin Clark (6) of Iowa and Zaay Green (3) of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
SCORING IT: ACU is third in the WAC, averaging 71.2 points per game. Hull leads the Cats with 15.1 points per game, followed by Earle at 12.4 and
Addison Martin at 10.9.
TRENDING: Earle is averaging 13.7 points, 12.7 rebounds and four assists over the last three games. The defense has been impressive over the last three games, allowing 56.7 points per game while holding opponents to 21 percent from three-point range and forcing 15.7 turnovers.
AGAINST THE WAC: ACU is 9-9 in league games and averaging 4.5 more rebounds per game than their WAC opponents. Hull averages 16.4 points and Earle gets 13.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per WAC contest.
ROAD CATS: The Wildcats are 2-9 in road games this season despite a 17.5 scoring average on the road by Hull. The Cats only shoot 27.6 percent from three-point range away from Moody.
WINNING NUMBERS: ACU averages 78.3 points per game in their 13 wins this season. In those games, Hull averages 15.7 points, Earle averages 14.2 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists, and Martin scores 11.2 points per game.
LAST GAME: ACU clinched its spot in the conference tournament with a 74-62 win over Utah Tech on Saturday. Every starter reached double figures in the scoring column with Earle getting a double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds. She also had six assists. 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, Martin scored 12 points to go with seven rebounds and
Clare Traeger had one of her best games with a dozen points and eight boards.
HISTORY WITH SEATTLE: ACU beat Seattle 82-63 in Moody on Feb. 8 behind Earle's 18 points and seven assists. Jackson added 13, Martin scored 12 and Hull added 10 in the win. Makayla Moore led the Redhawks with 21 points and nine rebounds.
SCOUTING SEATTLE: Mya Moore leads the Redhawks with 12.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. A 14-game losing streak put the SU season in jeopardy but the Redhawks have won four of the last six and have a shot at the postseason.
HISTORY WITH UTAH VALLEY: ACU jumped on Utah Valley early and won 66-53 in Moody last month. Tessa Chaney led the Wolverines with 17 points. Earle led ACU with 16 points, followed by Hull with 11 and Martin with 10.
SCOUTING UVU: Utah Valley has a longshot chance of making the postseason with wins against Tarleton State on Thursday and ACU on Saturday. The Wolverines have lost eight of their last nine games. Kylee Mabry leads UVU with 8.0 points per game.
