As the game clock at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill. struck "0:00" on March 27, reality set in for the Abilene Christian women's basketball team that both its season and its quest for a Women's National Invitation Tournament title had come to a close with a 78-68 loss to Illinois State.
Yet, while the Wildcats fell short of their ultimate goal, they nonetheless made history in the process, launching the deepest postseason run in the program's 12-year Division I era. ACU picked up dominant victories over Northwestern State and Central Arkansas en route to its first-ever appearance in the Super 16 round.
Prior to this season's trip to the WNIT, the Wildcats had just one postseason win to their name, a 2017 victory at Oklahoma State in the WNIT's opening round. Until this year, ACU hadn't competed in a postseason tournament since 2021.
The Wildcats' rally through the WNIT proved to be a fitting conclusion to one of the program's most successful seasons in recent memory. With a 22-13 record and a 9-7 mark in Western Athletic Conference play, ACU accrued its most victories, highest overall winning percentage and highest conference winning percentage since 2020.
ACU was powered by an offense that ranked in the nation's top 80 at 71.5 points per game and a defense that surrendered 61.8 points per game, the least given up by the Wildcats since 2016. The Wildcats did so with their second-most difficult schedule since joining the Division I ranks, per Sports Reference.
The Wildcats complemented their offense with a fervent effort on the defensive end that forced 21.5 turnovers per game, ranking 15th in the nation as the most in ACU history, dating back to the 1999-2000 campaign. The Wildcats also came away with 10.5 steals per game, good for 30th in the country and their most since 2014-15.
That defensive pressure translated to a plus-4.2 turnover margin, ranking 39th in the nation as ACU's best mark dating back to 1999-2000.
Leading the charge were All-WAC First Team and WAC All-Defensive Team honoree
Bella Earle and All-WAC Second Team selection
Meredith Mayes. The pair succeeded both on the court and in the classroom, garnering Academic All-District honors from College Sports Communicators.
Earle represents the program's first-ever addition to the WAC All-Defensive Team, and she wraps up a four-year career in the Purple and White with her name across the ACU Division I record books.
The Corinth, Texas product set the Wildcats' single-season records for field goals, steals and minutes played, tallying 177 field goals and 80 steals in 1,177 minutes of action. Earle's 471 points were the third-most scored in a season, while her 43.4% field goal percentage ranks sixth.
ACU's Swiss Army Knife dished out 144 assists, the fourth-most in a season by a Wildcat, while her 4.2 assists per game rank fifth. She added 241 total rebounds and 167 offensive rebounds, each ranking sixth. Earle's 2.4 steals and 34.6 minutes played per game were good for third and fourth, respectively.
Earle's record-setting campaign solidified her standing in ACU's all-time top 10 ranks in a number of statistics. She owns the second-most assists (404) and assists per game (3.3) in program history while ranking third in total rebounds (771) and defensive rebounds (533). Earle's 238 offensive rebounds are fourth, while her 436 field goals and 159 three-pointers each rank sixth.
Earle's season was headlined by a 23-point performance versus Seattle U on Jan. 11 that gave her over 1,000 points for her career, becoming the eighth Wildcat in the team's Division I era to reach that mark. She signs off in seventh place in the scoring ranks with 1,222 points.
While tied for fifth place with 121 career games, Earle's 3,661 minutes played match Suzzy Dimba for second-most all time. She also reached fourth place with 169 steals. Earle is ACU's only Division I player with at least 1,200 points, 750 rebounds, 400 assists and 150 steals.
Mayes surged in her sophomore campaign, racking up ACU's second-most offensive rebounds in a season with 106 and its third-best true shooting percentage at 59.9%. Her 36 blocks, 1.1 blocks per game and 5.0% block percentage were each good for sixth.
After two seasons in Abilene, Mayes boasts 52 blocks and 151 offensive rebounds in her career, ranking sixth and eighth overall, respectively.
Payton Hull, despite missing 13 games with a right hand injury, scored 20 points or more in nine games, becoming the first Wildcat to do so since the program's single-season leading scorer, Breanna Wright, in 2020. She followed up her 2024 WAC Freshman of the Year campaign by averaging 19.0 points per game.
Emma Troxell joined Earle as one of the team's workhorses, amassing 1,078 points over the course of the season to rank fourth in program history.
Erin Woodson met Earle in the single-season steal percentage top 10, ranking eighth at 3.6%. Earle took fourth place at 3.8%.
ACU women's basketball will commemorate the team's achievements during the 2024-25 season with a celebration banquet on Sunday, April 13 at 5 p.m. in the Wildcat Stadium Club Level. A registration link will be released soon.
