By Michael Freeman, Assistant Sports Editor
The women’s basketball team extended its winning streak to seven games Wednesday night as ACU survived Tarleton State 66-63 in Stephenville. But more importantly, the Wildcats clinched a spot in the postseason with their victory on Sunday against Angelo State in Moody Coliseum. The Wildcats have a 15-9 overall record with a 9-2 record in the Lone Star Conference South Division.
“I feel like we’re playing our best basketball right now,” said head coach Shawna Lavender. “But at the same time, I feel like we can play better. You always want to be playing your best basketball at the end of the season, and hopefully that takes your momentum into the playoffs.”
ACU’s seven-game winning streak is its longest since the beginning of last season when the Wildcats started 7-0.
“We’re finally coming together,” said guard Alex Guiton. “And it’s the perfect time. We truly believe that we’re the team to beat right now.”
The Wildcats’ latest victory came Wednesday as ACU beat Tarleton State 66-63. Leading the Wildcats was forward Jamie Meyer, who had a career-high 21 points to go along with seven rebounds. Guiton finished with 18 points, and forward Jody Meyer posted a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
ACU jumped to an early 9-2 lead three minutes into the first half. But the TexAnns came back to take the lead 15-14 by the 12-minute mark. The Wildcats regained the lead and entered halftime with a 38-34 advantage.
ACU began the second half on fire, going on a 14-7 run. The Wildcats’ lead did not last, however, as Tarleton State tied the game at 60 with 3:56 left in the game. After a free throw by Guiton and a layup by Jamie Meyer, ACU led by three points. With 2:37 on the clock, TexAnn Krystal Cole, who led Tarleton State with 19 points, hit a jump shot to cut the lead back down to one point. Center Audrey Maxwell, who was named the LSC South Division
Player of the Week on Monday, responded by hitting a layup with 41 seconds left to put ACU back up by three. After trading free throws, the Wildcats led 66-63 with 14 seconds remaining. Kathryn Kundmueller sealed the win with a last-second block of TexAnn Kendal Reddell’s 3-point attempt.
“Tarleton is tough,” Lavender said. “It was really a game of runs. We just had people step up for us.”
The win gave ACU a twogame conference lead over Tarleton State and Angelo State. The Wildcats defeated Angelo State 77-67 Sunday in Moody Coliseum to guarantee a place in the playoffs.
The Wildcats outshot the Rambelles 52.2 percent to 38.9 percent from the field, and grabbed eight more total rebounds in the game. Maxwell led ACU with 28 points and 16 rebounds, while forward Kristee Davidson had 19 points and Guiton finished with 15 points.
“I’m just loving it,” Maxwell said. “Going on this roll, we’ve peaked at the right time. It feels great.”
The Wildcats look to continue their winning streak against Midwestern State on Saturday in Moody Coliseum. Midwestern State is 9-15 overall with a 3-8 conference record. The Mustangs are on a streak of their own – a five-game losing streak. However, on Jan. 26, Midwestern State defeated ACU 85-63 in Wichita Falls.
“Midwestern is scrappy,” Lavender said. “We’ve got to be ready to play. If you don’t come out ready to play from the start, a team like Midwestern is going to beat you. They’ve already proven once this year that they could.”
