By Brian Roe, Sports Writer

ACU will travel to Ada, Okla., 2 p.m. Saturday to face Lone Star Conference crossover foe East Central Oklahoma.

The Lady Tigers of East Central are returning four of five starters from last season and are led by senior forwards Stormy Griffith and Leslie Shores.

“They are a good team and similar to us,” head coach Shawna Lavender said. “They won 14 games last year, and I know they will play hard. I expect to see a good game.”

The Wildcats, who played Thursday night in Durant, Okla., against Southeast Oklahoma, are in the middle of an eight-game road trip. The team will not play its first home game until Jan. 3 against Cameron.

“Nothing wrong with being on the road so much,” Lavender said. “Playing away from home is only going to help us. We are looking for a good weekend to swing some momentum our way a little bit.”

Lavender said the schedule had a few glitches but that it would even itself out.

“We have several games on the road early in the season but it will even out once we start playing conference games and have to go both home and away,” Lavender said. “I’m not really worried too much about it.”

ACU is led by senior forward Melanie Carter, who is nursing a high ankle injury but is expected to play, is averaging more than 10 points per game early in the season.

Carter is trying to become only the third player in ACU history – male or female – to score 2,000 career points.

“She tweaked her ankle a bit last weekend but she will be fine,” Lavender said. “She will be in the starting lineup and I expect her to do play well.”

After this weekend, the Wildcats will be off until the Dec. 15 Angelo State Tournament. ACU is expected to play St. Mary’s and Tarleton State.