POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Abilene Christian women's basketball's late comeback attempt fell short in a 78-68 loss to Illinois State in the Super 16 round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament on Thursday night.
The Wildcats' season came to a close with a 22-13 record as they reached the third round of a postseason tournament for the first time in the program's history. ACU played the most games in a season in its Division I era with its most wins, best overall winning percentage and best conference winning percentage since 2020.
Payton Hull steered the ship for the Wildcats, following up her 28-point effort at Central Arkansas with 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting.
Emma Troxell and
Meredith Mayes scored 15 and 12 points, respectively, with five rebounds each and a combined five steals.
Bella Earle dished out a team-high seven assists with nine points and four rebounds in her final game as a Wildcat. Playing in the 121st game of her four-year career at ACU, Earle tied Suzzy Dimba and Sydney Shelstad for the fifth-most games wearing a Wildcat uniform.
Shannon Dowell, an All-Missouri Valley Conference selection, powered the Redbirds with 28 points behind 10 field goals and a 3-of-6 mark from three-point range. Elyce Knudsen followed her with 16 points and four three-pointers, and
Addison Martin and Maya Wong scored 12 points each. Martin, a three-year member of the ACU women's basketball program, shot a perfect 4 of 4, while Wong hit each of her three-point tries.
Illinois State knocked down 27 of 51 field goal tries while making 10 of 18 attempts from beyond the arc at 55.6%. ACU shot 42.2% from the field while hitting eight of 25 three-point attempts. The Wildcats scored 21 points off 16 Redbird turnovers, while Illinois State turned 10 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points.
ACU grabbed a 16-14 lead after the opening quarter at the Shirk Center as both teams shot 33.3% from the field. Hull put the Wildcats on the board eight seconds into the ballgame with her first of three three-pointers and finished the quarter with eight points. Dowell scored nine points with a pair of three-pointers of her own.
Illinois State knotted the game at halftime at 33 points apiece by outscoring ACU in the second quarter, 19-17. The Redbirds shot 53.9% from the field with a 3-of-5 clip from long distance, while the Wildcats scored at a 46.7% mark while hitting three of seven three-point attempts. Troxell scored eight points while hitting both three-point tries.
The Redbirds opened the floodgates in the third quarter, though, taking a 59-49 lead into the fourth period after shooting 71.4% from the field and 75% from three. Knudsen came to life with a trio of three-pointers, and Dowell added eight points as Illinois State led by as much as 13 before Troxell's buzzer-beating three-pointer cut the deficit to 10 points. Hull tallied 11 of the Wildcats' 16 points.
ACU launched a rally in the fourth quarter, cutting its double-digit deficit to as little as three points with 1:52 to go on Earle's fast-break layup. Illinois State, though, closed out the game with a string of seven free throws to secure the victory.
The Wildcats return to Moody Coliseum in November to kick off the 2025-26 campaign.
