By Jeff Craig, Sports Writer
The women’s basketball team improved to 14-7 on the season after crushing the Lady Falcons of Texas-Permian Basin 83-43 Saturday afternoon at Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats have now won five games in a row, following a stretch in which they lost three of four. The victory also improved ACU’s home record to 9-2 on the season. Head coach Shawna Lavender attributes her team’s turnaround and recent success to improvements on the defensive end of the floor.
“Our defense has really started to pick it up,” Lavender said. “We are never satisfied with where we are at defensively.”
The Wildcats exemplified their commitment to defensive excellence Saturday, keeping UTPB to just 28.8 percent shooting from the floor. ACU also outrebounded the Lady Falcons 53-25 in the contest. The Wildcats’ domination on the glass carried over into the offensive side of the game; ACU scored 21 second-chance points while shutting out UTPB in that category.
Earlier in the season, ACU snuck by UTPB 50-43 in a nail-biter in Odessa. The Wildcats shot only 36.6 percent in the game and turned the ball over 22 times. This time, however, ACU took much better care of the ball and clamped down on defense. Lavender saw many improvements that led to a 40-point blowout win.
“The first time we played them it was close,” Lavender said. “I think our girls did a great job of adjusting for this game, and I really think we are playing better basketball now than we were at the beginning of the season.”
The Wildcats relied on a well-balanced attack in their blowout win over UTPB. The team had six players with seven or more points, and every member of the squad scored and collected at least one rebound during the game. Center Audrey Maxwell-Lively scored nine points and had nine rebounds, while forward Jodie Meyer scored 15 points. Junior guard Kelsey Darby led all scorers in the game with 16 points while protecting the ball at the point guard position. Lavender was pleased with Darby’s overall game against the Lady Falcons.
“Kelsey shot the ball really well and did a great job shooting 4-4 on three-point shots,” Lavender said. “She played point guard some and had only one turnover; I thought that overall she played a good game.”
The Wildcats have six games remaining before postseason play: three at home and three on the road. All six games are against Lone Star Conference South Division opponents as ACU has compiled a 5-1 record. West Texas A&M currently sits at 7-0 in conference on top of the South Division.
ACU was in action Tuesday night against Texas A&M-Kingsville; however, results were unavailable by press time.
