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Contributed by Lance Fleming, ACU Associate Director of Athletics for Media Relations
ABILENE -- The ACU Wildcats moved another step closer to a Southland Conference regular-season championship Saturday as they knocked off a stubborn New Orleans club, 80-70, at Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats need one win in their final two games of the regular season to clinch no worse than a tie for the title. Wins in each of their final two games - Wednesday at home against Incarnate Word and next Saturday at home against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi - to clinch the regular-season title and a bid to the Women's NIT.
For the second straight weekend, the Wildcats were able to overcome a pesky opponent from the bottom of the conference standings to hang onto sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference.
Last Sunday the Wildcats beat Southeastern Louisiana 72-70 when the Lady Lions missed a potential game-tying layup at the buzzer. And Saturday the Wildcats were able to withstand a spirited effort from the Privateers for a 10-point victory.
"New Orleans is another team in this league that is much better than its record," ACU head coach Julie Goodenough said. "We're getting every team's best shot right now, and we take that as a compliment. Both teams fought hard for 40 minutes, and I'm proud of our team for finding a way to win."
The Wildcats led by as many as 14 points (61-47) midway through the third quarter before UNO started cutting into the lead. The Privateers cut the advantage to 65-57 at the end of the quarter and then found themselves down by just five points (65-60) with 8:24 to play after Danielle Davis hit a 3-pointer to make it a game again.
But the Wildcats took over down the stretch, outscoring the Privateers 15-10 over the final 8:15 of the game to pull away for the win. Alexis Mason - continuing her bid to win Southland Conference Player of the Year honors - buried back-to-back 3-pointers in a stretch that saw ACU's lead go from seven points (67-60) to 73-60 with 5:23 left in the game.
Suzzy Dimba then hit a layup before McKenzie Martin sealed the game with a layup and a banked-in 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 80-66 with 1:41 to play.
Playing in front of a good group of alums on Alumni Day, the Wildcats never trailed in the game as they pushed their home record to 12-0 on the season with those two home games left to play in the regular season. The Wildcats are now 24-3 overall and 15-1 in league play and still one game up on Central Arkansas (24-3, 14-2 in the Southland Conference) in the league standings.
Mason led all scorers with 21 points - her ninth game with at least 20 points this season - while Whitney Swinford and Sydney Shelstead each had 15 and Suzzy Dimba 14 for the Wildcats.
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ABILENE -- The ACU Wildcats moved another step closer to a Southland Conference regular-season championship Saturday as they knocked off a stubborn New Orleans club, 80-70, at Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats need one win in their final two games of the regular season to clinch no worse than a tie for the title. Wins in each of their final two games - Wednesday at home against Incarnate Word and next Saturday at home against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi - to clinch the regular-season title and a bid to the Women's NIT.
For the second straight weekend, the Wildcats were able to overcome a pesky opponent from the bottom of the conference standings to hang onto sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference.
Last Sunday the Wildcats beat Southeastern Louisiana 72-70 when the Lady Lions missed a potential game-tying layup at the buzzer. And Saturday the Wildcats were able to withstand a spirited effort from the Privateers for a 10-point victory.
"New Orleans is another team in this league that is much better than its record," ACU head coach Julie Goodenough said. "We're getting every team's best shot right now, and we take that as a compliment. Both teams fought hard for 40 minutes, and I'm proud of our team for finding a way to win."
The Wildcats led by as many as 14 points (61-47) midway through the third quarter before UNO started cutting into the lead. The Privateers cut the advantage to 65-57 at the end of the quarter and then found themselves down by just five points (65-60) with 8:24 to play after Danielle Davis hit a 3-pointer to make it a game again.
But the Wildcats took over down the stretch, outscoring the Privateers 15-10 over the final 8:15 of the game to pull away for the win. Alexis Mason - continuing her bid to win Southland Conference Player of the Year honors - buried back-to-back 3-pointers in a stretch that saw ACU's lead go from seven points (67-60) to 73-60 with 5:23 left in the game.
Suzzy Dimba then hit a layup before McKenzie Martin sealed the game with a layup and a banked-in 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 80-66 with 1:41 to play.
Playing in front of a good group of alums on Alumni Day, the Wildcats never trailed in the game as they pushed their home record to 12-0 on the season with those two home games left to play in the regular season. The Wildcats are now 24-3 overall and 15-1 in league play and still one game up on Central Arkansas (24-3, 14-2 in the Southland Conference) in the league standings.
Mason led all scorers with 21 points - her ninth game with at least 20 points this season - while Whitney Swinford and Sydney Shelstead each had 15 and Suzzy Dimba 14 for the Wildcats.
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