ABILENE - Abilene Christian women's basketball closes out its home slate as it hosts UT Arlington at Moody Coliseum at 1 p.m. Saturday. It's Senior Day, as
Bella Earle,
Zoe Jackson and
Mia Rivers will be honored ahead of tipoff.
The Wildcats carry an 18-10 record with a 7-6 mark in Western Athletic Conference play into their rematch with the Lady Mavericks. UTA is 14-11 with a 9-5 showing in conference action, including a 71-52 win over ACU in Arlington on Jan. 25.
Meredith Mayes recorded the first of her three double-doubles in WAC play for the Wildcats, tallying 14 points with 10 rebounds on 7-of-13 shooting.
Emma Troxell logged 13 points, and
Breanna Davis dished out five assists.
The Lady Mavs were boosted by 24 points from Taliyah Clark and a double-double by Avery Brittingham with 12 points and 10 boards on 6-of-7 shooting. Aspen Thornton had eight assists with three steals.
While ACU has won five of its last six games, UTA is going in the opposite direction, having dropped its last four after a 9-1 start to conference action. Three of those losses have come on the road as the Lady Mavs met WAC frontrunner Grand Canyon twice.
Mayes has been one of the hottest players in the conference over her last 10 games, averaging 17.7 points and 8.1 rebounds. She blocked three shots in the Wildcats' win over Tarleton State on Thursday, her most in a conference matchup this season.
Earle has paved her way through the program record books this season, including moving into second place in all-time assists on Thursday with 374. She's seventh in field goals with 402 and sixth in three-pointers with 149. Earle's 175 free throws have her in ninth place, and her 724 rebounds are good for fourth.
The senior guard will play in her 115th career game on Saturday, moving her into sole possession of eighth place in the ACU record book. If Earle plays in the three final games of the regular season, she'll be in seventh.
Koi Love is both UTA's and the WAC's leading scorer with 16.0 points per game, adding 6.9 rebounds and a team-high 2.3 steals. Her 51.7% field goal clip is the third-best in the conference, while her 170 field goals lead the league. Love has been named WAC Newcomer of the Week on eight occasions after previous stops at USC, Arizona and Vanderbilt.
Brittingham is the only Lady Mav to start each game of the season, averaging 12.9 points and a team-best 9.0 boards. She's notched a WAC-best 12 double-doubles, including two triple-doubles. Clark is UTA's final player averaging double digits at 10.6 points per game.
