OREM, Utah - Abilene Christian women's basketball grinded out a 71-62 win over Utah Valley at the UCCU Center on Thursday night for its seventh victory in its last eight games. The Wildcats improved to 9-6 in Western Athletic Conference play to surpass the Wolverines, who fell to 8-7, in the league standings.
Bella Earle led the charge for ACU with her team-leading sixth double-double of the season at 26 points and 11 rebounds. She matched her career high in scoring and grabbed a career-best eight steals, smashing her previous personal high of five.
Earle also matched her career high in made free throws with 10 on 11 attempts. She came to life after halftime, scoring 18 points to go with seven boards and five steals.
Earle was joined in the double digits by
Erin Woodson and
Breanna Davis, who combined for 29 points. Woodson scored 15 for the second game in a row, while Davis tallied 14 points, nine of which came in the second half. She nailed each of her four shot attempts with one three-pointer.
Amanda Barcello paced Utah Valley with 15 points while Halle Nelson added 14 points to go with eight rebounds and perfect 5-of-5 shooting. Barcello sank four of nine three-pointers.
Both squads remained neck and neck through the first 10 minutes as the Wolverines carved out a slim 18-17 edge at the end of the first quarter. Woodson and Earle recorded 14 of the Wildcats' points as Woodson scored at least eight points in the first quarter for the second game in a row.
ACU knocked down 55% of its shots and three of five three-point tries, but was limited by eight turnovers that Utah Valley converted into eight points. The Wolverines established themselves near the basket with 12 points in the paint as White scored seven points in the quarter.
The barnburner continued into the second quarter as the Wildcats battled to a 29-29 tie at halftime. Barcello scored the entirety of Utah Valley's 11 points with a 3-of-3 mark from long range as the Wolverines shot 30% as a team.
ACU didn't fare much better at 30.8% from the field and 20% from deep. The Wildcats were held scoreless for over four minutes in the period, but engineered a 9-5 run in the final 3:34 to tie the game at the break.
Utah Valley stretched its lead to four in the third quarter at 51-47, and the edge came at the free throw line. The Wolverines knocked down seven of eight at the charity stripe compared to the Wildcats' 4-of-6 clip.
Earle and Nelson each scored seven points to move into the double digits. Utah Valley scored the final four points of the quarter in the remaining 46 seconds, with Cambree Blackham laying it in with a second left.
The fourth quarter saw both sides battle it out at the charity stripe, where ACU held an 11-of-16 advantage to Utah Valley's 3-of-8 mark. Earle scored 11 points in the quarter alone and was a perfect 6 of 6 at the line. The Wildcats made five of 10 shots as the Wolverines didn't have a player score more than three points in the period.
Utah Valley led by four points with five minutes remaining, but
Emma Troxell's three-pointer followed by an Earle layup pushed ACU in front. After a free throw, the Wolverines kept it tied until the 1:17 mark, when
Meredith Mayes hit a free throw that gave the Wildcats the lead for good.
ACU scored the final seven points of the game, sourcing them entirely from free throws with no field goals in the last 3:02. Utah Valley missed its last seven shots with no field goals in the final 4:58.
The Wildcats wrap up the regular season in Phoenix on Saturday as they go to battle with WAC regular season champion Grand Canyon. The Lopes are a perfect 15-0 in conference play and have won their last 26 games. Tipoff from Global Credit Union Arena at GCU is set for 3 p.m. on ESPN+.
