ABILENE - Abilene Christian women's basketball won consecutive games for the first time in the calendar year with a 74-52 victory over Southern Utah at Moody Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. It's the least amount of points the Wildcats have given up to a Western Athletic Conference opponent this season, and they did it in new pink uniforms as part of Hoops for a Hope, presented by Hendrick Health.
ACU shot 47% from the field with a 7-of-21 clip from three-point range while knocking down 13 of 16 free throws. The Thunderbirds made 36% of their shots with a 5-of-25 mark from long distance. The Wildcats held a 41-28 edge in the rebounding battle and collected 13 steals with five blocks.
Bella Earle paced the ACU offense with a team-high 23 points and nine rebounds, raising her career scoring to 1,105 points to go with 705 total rebounds. She led the Wildcats with three assists to go with 9-of-14 shooting.
Meredith Mayes also finished a rebound shy of a double-double with 11 points and nine boards.
Erin Woodson added 13 points to go with 12 by
Breanna Davis, one point shy of tying her career-best. Woodson forced three steals, and
Aimee Flippen brought down a career-high six rebounds.
Ava Uhrich was a one-woman show for the Thunderbirds, pouring in 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including a 4-of-7 mark from deep. Daylani Ballena added eight points and five rebounds, while Samantha Johnston dealt four assists and two blocks.
The Wildcats' defense became the story of the first quarter, limiting the Thunderbirds to nine points on 3-of-12 shooting with four turnovers. ACU ended the period on an 8-2 run to grab an 18-9 lead as Southern Utah was held without a field goal for the last 4:21 of the quarter.
The Thunderbirds took the momentum to begin the second quarter with a trio of field goals through the first two minutes while forcing a pair of turnovers. ACU responded by limiting Southern Utah to four points and six turnovers for the remainder of the half en route to a 38-19 lead at the break. The Wildcats ended the half on a 6-0 run, capped by an Earle layup just before the buzzer.
ACU shot 46% in the first half with Earle leading the way behind 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and five rebounds. Southern Utah was 30% from the field and 1 of 12 from three-point range. It's the second game in a row that the Wildcats have held a halftime edge of 16 points or more after leading Utah Tech 44-28 through two quarters on Thursday.
Earle continued to be the engine behind ACU's offense, scoring 11 of the team's 20 points in the third quarter. The Wildcats launched two separate 7-0 runs in the period, the first of which was built entirely by Earle. The two rallies equated to a 14-4 ACU run.
The Wildcats led by as much as 28 in the fourth quarter behind an 8-0 run. The Thunderbirds managed to outscore them in the quarter, 17-16, although Woodson scored seven points in the final 10 minutes.
ACU returns to the hardwood for a three-game road trip across Washington and Utah over the next two weeks. ACU looks to return to .500 in WAC play when it meets Seattle U at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Redhawk Center.
