ABILENE - Abilene Christian women's basketball closed out its home slate on a high note with an 81-74 win over UT Arlington at Moody Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. It was the Wildcats' third victory in a row as they improved to 19-10 overall and 8-6 in Western Athletic Conference action.
ACU's
Bella Earle,
Zoe Jackson and
Mia Rivers were honored in a pregame ceremony as part of the game's Senior Day celebrations. Fittingly, Earle and Jackson combined for 34 points, eight assists and four steals as they put a bow on their careers in Abilene.
Earle paced the Wildcats with 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists as she knocked down three of six three-pointers. Her two steals gave her 153 for her four-year career, moving her into fifth place in the ACU's Division I record books. It was Earle's 115th career game, the eighth-most in the program's Division I history.
Jackson put together her best game of the year, tallying a season-high 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep, tying her career-best from long distance.
Meredith Mayes earned her fifth double-double of the season behind 18 points and 11 boards. She scored in the double digits for the 11th game in a row and added three steals with two blocks.
Erin Woodson totaled 15 points after a 13-point first half effort, dishing out six assists in the process and smashing her previous career-high of three assists.
The Lady Mavericks' trio of Taliyah Parker, Avery Brittingham and Nya Threatt combined for 45 points. The Wildcats held the WAC's leading scorer, Koi Love, to just 10 points after she came in averaging 16.0. She led the team with six rebounds and four assists while collecting three steals. Brittingham had four steals and five boards.
ACU wasted little time asserting itself as it raced to a 21-11 lead by the end of the first quarter. Woodson led the way with nine points as UTA turned the ball over five times.
The Wildcats stretched their lead to as much as 12 with 7:41 to go in the second quarter, but the Lady Mavs battled back to level the score at 34 on a Park three-pointer with 2:26 until halftime. Earle's jumper at the 0:52 mark pushed the ACU edge back to three as it led 39-36 at the break. UTA hit 52.9% of its shots in the second quarter as it outscored ACU, 25-18.
Earle came to life for 10 in the third quarter to help the Wildcats up their lead to seven points. She knocked down four of six shots with two three-pointers, while
Emma Troxell scored seven of her nine points on 3-of-3 shooting. Both teams shot lights out, with ACU netting 10 of 14 and UTA nailing 10 of 13.
The Wildcats earned their biggest lead of the day at 13 points behind a pair of
Breanna Davis free throws with 7:56 remaining. Yet the Lady Mavs clawed their way back to cut their deficit to a one-possession game at 75-72 with 2:53 left on the clock.
ACU clutched up when it mattered though, as Earle scored the Wildcats' final six points. She drained a three-pointer with 1:52 remaining before grabbing an offensive rebound and depositing the layup for an 80-74 lead with 22 seconds remaining.
ACU hits the road for its final two games of the regular season at Utah Valley and Grand Canyon. The Wildcats meet the Wolverines at 7 p.m. Thursday in Orem, Utah.
