In another dominate fourth quarter performance, the women’s basketball team outscored the University of Incarnate Word 27-18 on their way to an 86-71 victory.
With just under five minutes left in the first quarter UIW converted on their first three-point field goal to take a 13-12 lead. However, it would be the final lead the Cardinals would hold, as junior Sydney Shelstead put in a layup a minute later to give the Wildcats an advantage they never relinquished.
The Wildcats built a five-point lead at the end of the first and doubled their margin in the second quarter, taking a 44-34 halftime advantage.
Junior Alexis Mason converted on four of her first five shots to pace the Wildcats offensive with 13 first half points and senior Whitney West Swinford went 3-for-4 from behind the arc to add 11. Swinford takes over as ACU’s all-time leader in three-point attempts with her four shots in the game.
Despite trailing by double-digits at half, UIW remained within striking distance, as they cut the lead to 54-50 with two minutes left in the third quarter. ACU was able to push the lead back to seven, heading into the fourth quarter, but still only mustered 15 points in the third.
ACU scored the first three points of the fourth to get the lead back to double digits, but the Cardinals refused to go away, as they cut the lead to 64-59 with their fifth and final three-pointer of the game.
With just a five-point lead an 7:30 to go in the game, head coach Julie Goodenough called a timeout in an attempt to halt the momentum shift. The timeout worked well for the Wildcats, as they went on to outscore UIW 22-12 the rest of the way and improve to 7-0 in conference play.
All five of ACU’s starters finished in double figures, led by Mason with a game-high 26 and Swinford with 17, while Shelstead added 14 points and six rebounds. Junior Lizzy Dimba contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double.
With another double-digit win the Wildcats push their win streak to 12 games, and continue to lead the Southland in scoring margin at 16.3 points per game. ACU’s 16-2 record registers as the third best start in school history.
This concludes a perfect three-game road trip for the team, as they return to Moody Wednesday to take on Houston Baptist.
