ARLINGTON, Texas - Abilene Christian women's basketball picked up its first victory in Arlington since 2013 as it pulled away for a 72-63 win over UT Arlington at the College Park Center on Thursday night.
Payton Hull registered her fourth 20-point effort in her last five games while
Emma Troxell set career highs in assists and steals.
The Wildcats aim to finish off a sweep in their I-20 Rivalry regular season series versus Tarleton State at 2 p.m. Saturday in Stephenville. ACU will make its first trip to the Texans' EECU Center, which opened this season.
ACU came away with 18 steals, tied for the most against a Division I opponent in program history. The Wildcats forced 28 Lady Mav turnovers, the most they've induced in a Western Athletic Conference matchup this season. They turned them into 31 points.
At 9-3, ACU continued its best run through conference play since 2019-20 and improved to 12-0 in games played from Monday to Thursday this season.
Hull followed up her Jersey Mike's A Sub Above WAC Player of the Week recognition with another strong performance, rattling off 24 points on a 10-of-17 mark from the field. She added two blocks and a pair of steals. The conference's leading scorer is averaging 23.8 points in her last five games while making half her shots at a .519 clip.
After notching a career-best 22 points in her last time out, Troxell registered a career-high five assists and six steals on Thursday. She tied for the team lead with six rebounds. Each of Troxell's four points came at the free throw line, where she touts an .882 mark in conference action.
Natalia Chavez followed with 14 points, 10 of which came in the second half, and three steals.
Erin Woodson scored in the double figures for the 15th game in a row with 11 points, aided by a pair of free throws with 38 seconds remaining. She matched Troxell with six rebounds and paced the Wildcats with four steals.
Jazmyn Stone was the fourth and final ACU student-athlete in the double digits, tying her season high with 10 points to go with four assists.
Aimee Flippen matched her career best with a pair of blocks in a season-high 10 minutes.
The Wildcats jumped to a 17-9 lead through the first quarter after forcing eight UT Arlington turnovers behind six steals. Hull wasted little time going to work, pouring in 12 points with a couple of blocks. Each of Chavez's three steals came in the first 10 minutes. ACU led by as much as 11 before a Lady Mav three-pointer at the buzzer.
UT Arlington made it a 32-28 game at halftime despite committing nine turnovers in the second quarter. ACU held a double-digit edge with six minutes to go, but a six-point rally by the Lady Mavs in the final two minutes of the half cut into the lead. Woodson tallied three steals to charge the Wildcats' defense.
Both teams' offenses traded punches out of the break before ACU took a 53-48 advantage into the final quarter. Chavez sank three of five shots for seven points, while Woodson brought down four rebounds.
The Wildcats made the most of their opportunities in the fourth quarter, connecting on seven of 11 field goal attempts for 19 points. After an opening layup got UT Arlington within three points, ACU engineered a 9-0 run to make it a 12-point game.
Woodson was perfect with eight points on 3-fo-3 shooting, while Hull was 2 of 3 for five points. Troxell set ACU up for success with two assists and three steals.
