Wednesday, November 11
Edinburg, Texas
6:30 p.m.
Abilene Christian
at
UT Rio Grande Valley
11/10/2026 6:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball
EDINBURG, Texas — Abilene Christian women's basketball hits the road to South Texas to take on UT Rio Grande Valley at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Wildcats aim for their fifth straight win over their former conference foes after opening the season with shining performances on offense and defense.
Wednesday's matchup can be streamed on ESPN+, with Bryan Smith (play-by-play) and Luis Rubio (analyst) on the call.
ACU can achieve consecutive 3-0 starts to the season for the first time since the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns. The Wildcats competed with the Vaqueros in the Western Athletic Conference for three seasons from 2021-24 and have met in each of the past five years. ACU holds a 10-5 lead in the all-time series.
The Wildcats picked up a 76-58 win at Moody Coliseum last season, with Natalia Chavez scoring a career-high 20 points behind six three-pointers. Meredith Mayes notched a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Payton Hull scored 16 points in ACU's 59-45 win in its last trip to Edinburg in 2024.
The Wildcats are 8-2 in their last 10 matchups with nonconference opponents and could pick up their seventh win in their last 10 road contests on Wednesday.
ACU has delivered a roaring start to the 2026-27 season, beating Howard Payne and Houston Christian by an average of 58.5 points. It's averaging 96.0 points per game and allowing just 37.5.Â
The Wildcats cruised to an 84-43 win over the Huskies last Friday, marking their largest margin of victory over a Division I opponent since an 81-39 win over Texas Southern in 2018. It was the fewest points they've allowed to a DI foe in three seasons.
Hull earned United Athletic Conference Player of the Week distinction after averaging a UAC-best 18.0 points at a .519 clip. She was .353 from three-point range and registered 4.5 steals per game. It's the sixth Player of the Week honor of Hull's career, a program record.
After Hull picked off eight steals in the season-opening 108-32 win over the Lady Jackets, Mayes tallied eight takeaways of her own at Houston Christian. Both are career bests and tie ACU's DI single-game record.
ALL EYES ON ABILENE – ACU kicks off the 2026-27 campaign with plenty of preseason hardware. The Wildcats were tabbed the UAC preseason favorites with eight of nine first-place votes atop the Preseason UAC Coaches Poll. Payton Hull was named the 2026-27 United Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year and landed on the Preseason All-UAC Team alongside Meredith Mayes and Erin Woodson. The Wildcats' three honorees on the 11-member Preseason All-UAC Team are the most in the conference. Experience ought to be a strength of the 2026-27 Wildcats, with five members of the roster owning 50 or more career starts in Hull, Mayes, Woodson, Emma Troxell and Raimi McCrary. Hull, Troxell, Mayes and Woodson started each game they appeared in for ACU last season.
Hull, the reigning Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, and Mayes were also named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award preseason watch list. The seniors join a team of 25 student-athletes from across the nation to land on the preseason watch list representing the best players at the mid-major level. The Wildcats are one of three programs to tout at least two selections and are the only United Athletic Conference program featured.
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK – Hull has made a name for herself as one of the most consistent players in the nation as she begins her senior season. The Peaster, Texas product has scored 10 points or more in 83 of 89 career games and has notched a steal in 76 games. Hull rattled off an ACU DI-record 36 points at Tarleton State on Feb. 14, 2026. With four career 30-point performances, she is tied with Breanna Wright for the most in the program's Division I era. Hull's 14 20-point performances led the WAC last season.
Hull was the fastest of the nine Wildcats in the DI era to reach the 1,000-point milestone. She ranks third in the Wildcats' DI record book with 1,539 career points and is 127 points shy of breaking Alexis Mason's program record of 1,666 points. Hull was named the UAC Player of the Week on Nov. 9, the program-record sixth weekly honor of her career.
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR – The Wildcats launched back-to-back 20-win campaigns with a 24-11 showing in 2025-26. ACU placed second in the final season of the Western Athletic Conference with a 13-5 mark in conference action. It picked up its most conference victories since 2019-20 and its first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 2018-20. ACU built Moody Coliseum into one of the conference's top home-court advantages with a 14-2 record at home. It marked its most home victories since 2019-20. The Wildcats returned to the Women's National Invitation Tournament's Super 16 with an automatic berth, matching the program's deepest postseason run.
NEW YEAR, NEW CONFERENCE – ACU makes its debut in the United Athletic Conference in 2026, welcoming six new conference opponents along with Tarleton State and UT Arlington in the rebranding of the WAC. Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama and West Georgia join from the Atlantic Sun, while Little Rock makes the move from the Ohio Valley. The inaugural UAC Tournament is set for the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas on March 10-14, 2027. The venue in the DFW Metroplex will serve as the championship site for the next three seasons.
WORLDWIDE WILDCATS – ACU was propelled into the 2026-27 season with a summer international tour to Greece and Rwanda across two weeks in August. The Wildcats took part in numerous unforgettable experiences through international competition, service work and cultural immersion activities. ACU played two games versus semi-pro teams in Athens, Greece before hosting basketball clinics at Rwanda Children, a faith-based nonprofit founded by ACU track and field alum Serge Gasore ('09) outside of Kigali, Rwanda.
COACH GOODENOUGH'S MILESTONES – With a .642 winning percentage in 15 seasons at ACU (276-154), head coach Julie Goodenough is second in program history in winning percentage behind Suzanne Fox (117-33, .780) and second in wins behind Burl McCoy (299-174). Goodenough is 565-374 (.602 winning percentage) in her career spanning 33 seasons between Hardin-Simmons, Oklahoma State, Charleston Southern and ACU. She will coach in her 940th game on Wednesday.
Wednesday's matchup can be streamed on ESPN+, with Bryan Smith (play-by-play) and Luis Rubio (analyst) on the call.
ACU can achieve consecutive 3-0 starts to the season for the first time since the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns. The Wildcats competed with the Vaqueros in the Western Athletic Conference for three seasons from 2021-24 and have met in each of the past five years. ACU holds a 10-5 lead in the all-time series.
The Wildcats picked up a 76-58 win at Moody Coliseum last season, with Natalia Chavez scoring a career-high 20 points behind six three-pointers. Meredith Mayes notched a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Payton Hull scored 16 points in ACU's 59-45 win in its last trip to Edinburg in 2024.
The Wildcats are 8-2 in their last 10 matchups with nonconference opponents and could pick up their seventh win in their last 10 road contests on Wednesday.
ACU has delivered a roaring start to the 2026-27 season, beating Howard Payne and Houston Christian by an average of 58.5 points. It's averaging 96.0 points per game and allowing just 37.5.Â
The Wildcats cruised to an 84-43 win over the Huskies last Friday, marking their largest margin of victory over a Division I opponent since an 81-39 win over Texas Southern in 2018. It was the fewest points they've allowed to a DI foe in three seasons.
Hull earned United Athletic Conference Player of the Week distinction after averaging a UAC-best 18.0 points at a .519 clip. She was .353 from three-point range and registered 4.5 steals per game. It's the sixth Player of the Week honor of Hull's career, a program record.
After Hull picked off eight steals in the season-opening 108-32 win over the Lady Jackets, Mayes tallied eight takeaways of her own at Houston Christian. Both are career bests and tie ACU's DI single-game record.
ALL EYES ON ABILENE – ACU kicks off the 2026-27 campaign with plenty of preseason hardware. The Wildcats were tabbed the UAC preseason favorites with eight of nine first-place votes atop the Preseason UAC Coaches Poll. Payton Hull was named the 2026-27 United Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the Year and landed on the Preseason All-UAC Team alongside Meredith Mayes and Erin Woodson. The Wildcats' three honorees on the 11-member Preseason All-UAC Team are the most in the conference. Experience ought to be a strength of the 2026-27 Wildcats, with five members of the roster owning 50 or more career starts in Hull, Mayes, Woodson, Emma Troxell and Raimi McCrary. Hull, Troxell, Mayes and Woodson started each game they appeared in for ACU last season.
Hull, the reigning Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year, and Mayes were also named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award preseason watch list. The seniors join a team of 25 student-athletes from across the nation to land on the preseason watch list representing the best players at the mid-major level. The Wildcats are one of three programs to tout at least two selections and are the only United Athletic Conference program featured.
REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK – Hull has made a name for herself as one of the most consistent players in the nation as she begins her senior season. The Peaster, Texas product has scored 10 points or more in 83 of 89 career games and has notched a steal in 76 games. Hull rattled off an ACU DI-record 36 points at Tarleton State on Feb. 14, 2026. With four career 30-point performances, she is tied with Breanna Wright for the most in the program's Division I era. Hull's 14 20-point performances led the WAC last season.
Hull was the fastest of the nine Wildcats in the DI era to reach the 1,000-point milestone. She ranks third in the Wildcats' DI record book with 1,539 career points and is 127 points shy of breaking Alexis Mason's program record of 1,666 points. Hull was named the UAC Player of the Week on Nov. 9, the program-record sixth weekly honor of her career.
IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR – The Wildcats launched back-to-back 20-win campaigns with a 24-11 showing in 2025-26. ACU placed second in the final season of the Western Athletic Conference with a 13-5 mark in conference action. It picked up its most conference victories since 2019-20 and its first back-to-back 20-win seasons since 2018-20. ACU built Moody Coliseum into one of the conference's top home-court advantages with a 14-2 record at home. It marked its most home victories since 2019-20. The Wildcats returned to the Women's National Invitation Tournament's Super 16 with an automatic berth, matching the program's deepest postseason run.
NEW YEAR, NEW CONFERENCE – ACU makes its debut in the United Athletic Conference in 2026, welcoming six new conference opponents along with Tarleton State and UT Arlington in the rebranding of the WAC. Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama and West Georgia join from the Atlantic Sun, while Little Rock makes the move from the Ohio Valley. The inaugural UAC Tournament is set for the Credit Union of Texas Event Center in Allen, Texas on March 10-14, 2027. The venue in the DFW Metroplex will serve as the championship site for the next three seasons.
WORLDWIDE WILDCATS – ACU was propelled into the 2026-27 season with a summer international tour to Greece and Rwanda across two weeks in August. The Wildcats took part in numerous unforgettable experiences through international competition, service work and cultural immersion activities. ACU played two games versus semi-pro teams in Athens, Greece before hosting basketball clinics at Rwanda Children, a faith-based nonprofit founded by ACU track and field alum Serge Gasore ('09) outside of Kigali, Rwanda.
COACH GOODENOUGH'S MILESTONES – With a .642 winning percentage in 15 seasons at ACU (276-154), head coach Julie Goodenough is second in program history in winning percentage behind Suzanne Fox (117-33, .780) and second in wins behind Burl McCoy (299-174). Goodenough is 565-374 (.602 winning percentage) in her career spanning 33 seasons between Hardin-Simmons, Oklahoma State, Charleston Southern and ACU. She will coach in her 940th game on Wednesday.
Players Mentioned
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