CEDAR CITY, Utah - Abilene Christian women's basketball carries a three-game winning streak on the road as it meets Southern Utah at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the America First Event Center.
Now fifth in the Western Athletic Conference, the Wildcats look to reach above .500 for the first time in league play this season as they sit at 16-9 overall and 5-5 in conference action.
ACU will return to the court for the first time in nearly a week after taking down Seattle U, 84-62, last Thursday. The Wildcats showed no hiccups without their active leading scorer,
Bella Earle, as
Breanna Davis poured in a career-high 17 points with five assists.
Meredith Mayes added 17 points of her own as well to go with nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
Entering at 6-19 with a 4-8 mark in conference play, the Thunderbirds have their first consistent momentum of the season with a two-game winning streak. They captured a pair of road victories last week after engineering a 10-point comeback in a 69-66 win at Utah Tech and scoring 72 points versus Utah Valley, their most points scored against a Division I opponent this season.
Both teams will be just 11 days removed from their first meeting this season, when ACU's defense stepped up in a 74-52 win at Moody Coliseum on Feb. 8. Earle contributed 23 points and nine rebounds, while Mayes tallied 11 points and nine boards.
Aimee Flippen brought down a career-best six rebounds.
Southern Utah's Ava Uhrich did a bit of everything for the Thunderbirds, racking up 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including a 4-of-7 mark from long distance.
Davis has been playing some of her best basketball of the season as of late, notching double-digit scoring in three of her last four games. She's nailed 15 of 33 shots in those games while knocking down 15 of 16 free throws. Davis' 74.3% free throw percentage in WAC matchups ranks 11th in the conference.
Mayes has been on a similar heater, scoring 11 points or more in each of her last seven games, averaging 15.9 points and 8.1 rebounds in that stretch. She has two double-doubles in WAC play against UT Arlington and Utah Tech and came up a rebound short on four other occasions.
The Bixby, Okla. native is fifth in the conference with 7.3 rebounds per game, and her 3.3 offensive boards and 1.1 blocks each rank second. Against WAC competition, Mayes has the league's best field goal percentage at 67.5%, and her 13.3 points per game are 12th. She is the conference's top offensive rebounder with 3.9 per game.
As evidenced by their three-game win streak, the Wildcats have developed into one of the WAC's most well-rounded teams. They're third in the conference in both offense and defense, averaging 73.0 points per game while allowing 61.0. That scoring margin ranks second in the league, as does ACU's field goal percentage at 44.0%.
The Thunderbirds have stepped up their defense in conference play with a field goal defense ranking third at 41.0%. Their opponents are making just 29.5% of their three-pointers, good for second in the WAC.
Uhrich paces Southern Utah with 11.3 points per game at 50.4%, while Daylani Ballena is right behind in averaging 11.2 points and 2.8 assists. Ballena is the conference's fourth-best free throw shooter at 72.4% and ranks in the WAC's top 10 in minutes played per game alongside teammate Samantha Johnston.
