The Wildcats led for a total of 2.7 seconds in the second half. But it happened to be the last 2.7 seconds of the game as ACU rallied past West Texas A&M 67-66, topping last year’s 69-67 victory over the Buffs and marking the second straight season the Wildcats have defeated their archrival in Moody Coliseum.
Throughout the second half, the ‘Cats were down by as many as 12 points and by no fewer than six until four minutes left in the game. That was when freshman phenom Mack Lankford got an old-fashioned three point play, a layup and an ‘and 1,’ to bring ACU within four at 61-57.
But West Texas wouldn’t go down easy as its sharpshooter, Lacee Logan, answered with a conventional three ball to extend the lead back to seven. Lankford wouldn’t be outdone though, coming back down the court and immediately scoring three more points of her own.
With 1:25 left, the Lady Buffs hit a basket that extended their lead to 66-61. A Renata Marquez lay-up for the ‘Cats pulled them within three. After a defensive stop, Lankford again drove to the basket and was fouled on the floor while scoring.
The refs, fortunately, didn’t see it that way and said she was in the process of shooting during the foul. The basket counted, and Lankford’s free throw was good as the Wildcats came back to tie the game.
West Texas missed a jumper with a little less than half a minute to play. ACU got the rebound and quickly called a time-out to regroup before the final possession of the game.
The Wildcats got the shot they wanted with about seven ticks left on the clock, but Marquez couldn’t connect from the foul line. Fortunately, guard Cecilee Perez grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled, giving her two chances to win it from the free throw line.
Perez made the first of two putting the ‘Cats up 67-66. An errant pass for WT ended its shot at a miracle comeback after Perez’s second free throw banked off the rim, and ACU took home it’s biggest win of the season.
“I was thinking I only need to make one of the two to pull this off,” Perez said. “My coach said it was a perfect miss. They had wanted me to miss, so good thing I did.”
The win puts the Wildcats at 5-4 in the Lone Star Conference and still in position to get a spot in the conference tournament.
The Wildcats’ next two games will be on the road as they travel to Kingsville to take on the Javelinas on Saturday at 1 p.m.
