By Jeff Craig, Sports Writer
The women’s basketball team’s streak of six consecutive victories came to an end Saturday as the Wildcats fell to the Angelo State Rambelles 64-59 in San Angelo.
The Wildcats entered the game riding a wave of momentum, having won six of their past seven games; they also ranked No. 10 in the NCAA South Central Region poll. The Rambelles entered the game on a hot streak of their own after winning four in a row and eight-straight at home.
ACU head coach Shawna Lavender thought her team drifted from the fundamentals that had been keys to its recent success.
“I thought that in the first half we came out and did a lot of the things we wanted to do against Angelo,” Lavender said. “I thought we executed well and played pretty good defense. In the second half, we didn’t do a very good job of making adjustments when we needed to do so. They took us out of our element, and we weren’t able to respond.”
The loss dropped the Wildcats to 15-8 overall, while their Lone Star Conference South record now stands at 6-2. Meanwhile, ASU improved to 14-9 on the year and 5-3 in LSC South play. West Texas A&M leads the pack in the South Division with a 21-3 record overall and a perfect 9-0 mark in conference play.
Rambelles guard Camille Perkins led all scorers in the game with 20 points, and center Audrey Maxwell-Lively led the Wildcats with 19 points. Guard Kat Kundmueller had a good all-around game by grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out five assists, both game-highs.
The Wildcats dominated the Rambelles in the first half; the Rambelles shot just 23.5 percent from the field in the first frame, while the Wildcats shot 52 percent from the floor. However, the Wildcats shot just 24 percent in the second half.
In the extra frame, Angelo State came out on fire, knocking down 60 percent of the shots, while ACU shot just 11.1 percent in overtime, scoring just one of nine from the field.
“We missed some easy 3- to 4-foot jumpers, and Angelo played some good defense,” Lavender said. “Mentally, we just took ourselves out of the game in overtime.”
The Wildcats will play Tarleton State on Wednesday in Stephenville.
“We have to realize that losing at Angelo State is not the end of the world. This is a good mental test if we can bounce back from the loss,” Lavender said.
