By Michael Freeman, Assistant Sports Editor
In the true spirit of giving, the ACU women’s basketball team handed its opponents more than they wanted during the Christmas break.
The Wildcats won five of their last six games by an average margin of victory of nearly 16 points. ACU captured its latest win on the road Wednesday against Texas Woman’s as the Wildcats took the game 63-61.
“I feel good about where we are and how we’re playing,” said head coach Shawna Lavender.
Wednesday’s victory improved ACU’s overall record to 7-7 and 1-0 in the Lone Star Conference South Division. Texas Woman’s dropped to 5-9 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
The Wildcats trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half but bounced back after halftime to squeak out a twopoint win. Forward Kristee Davidson and guard Alex Guiton led the Wildcats with 16 points and six rebounds each.
Center Audrey Maxwell also pitched in with 15 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
ACU outshot Texas Woman’s by hitting 46.8 percent of their field goals, while the Pioneers shot 38.3 percent. The Wildcats also hit 70.8 percent of their free throws.
“I think our girls mentally are starting to get over the hump,” Lavender said. “We’ve kind of been playing good, then bad; good, then bad. But the last few games we’ve really played a lot more consistent. And that’s really key going into conference.”
After beating Texas-Permian Basin, Southwestern
Oklahoma State, Cameron, Texas A&M International and Texas Woman’s over the break, ACU will attempt to continue its hot streak on Saturday in San Angelo as the Wildcats play the team with the best record in the Lone Star Conference, Angelo State. Angelo State is 13-3 on the season; however, the Rambelles are coming off a 74-53 loss to West Texas A&M on Wednesday.
“You never know what’s going to happen against them,” Lavender said. “It doesn’t matter about records when you play Angelo. It’s anybody’s game.”
Angelo State has the No. 3 offense in the conference, averaging 72.4 points per game. However, ACU is No. 2 in the conference with an average of 73.2 points per game.
“I feel like we match up well against Angelo,” Lavender said. “It
should be a great game. And especially early on in conference if we can pick up a win against Angelo, I think it will be big for our confidence.”
The Wildcats have plenty of reasons to be confident, considering their recent wins. ACU’s only loss in the last month came Saturday against Texas A&MCommerce, the No. 18 team in the nation at the time. ACU lost a hard-fought battle, 86-80, in overtime.
“We had our chances to win that game,” Lavender said. “But I thought we played our best game of the year. And if we play like that the rest of conference, I think we’ll be fine.”
