With the chance of attending the Lone Star Conference Post-Season Tournament one the line, the women’s basketball team fell short to Angelo State in a Tuesday night heartbreaker. After dominating the first half, the Wildcats quickly lost control of the game and an 11-point lead with only minutes on the clock remaining. Despite their early efforts, ACU left the court with a painful 82-74 loss.
“This is not what we intended to happen going into this season,” head coach Shawna Lavender. There is so much talent on this team, but it has been a struggle for us to remain focused and to become consistent.”
Consistency could have changed the outcome of the game. Wildcat fans watched their team’s momentum fade away in the second half. But where ACU fell, the Rambelles picked up the slack, scoring a season high of 82 points, and shooting 33 percent from the three-point range. ASU outscored the home team 50-37 in the second half, banking 13 of 27, while the Wildcats barely managed 14 out of 40.
Within a 10-minute rally, the ‘Cats 52-41 lead and hope of defeat quickly melted as the Rambelles went on a shooting rampage, cutting the 11-point deficit and then some. Angelo State has struggled offensively all season, averaging just under 60 points per game, and making close to 30 percent behind the three-point line. But in a matter of minutes, ASU was up 70-61.
Mack Lankford agreed with her coach on the lack of consistency. “It’s frustrating, but you have to get back up and prepare for the next game,” said the sophomore guard. “It just pushes us to practice even harder this week in preparation to play them again this weekend.”
Lankford led the ‘Cats with the game-high of 29 points, shooting 10 of 19 off the floor, followed by Kelsey Smith with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Cassi Stegall of Angelo State had a career-high of 21 points, sinking 5 out of 6 3-pointers.
The Wildcats fell deeper in the LSC rankings following the loss, now staked out at ninth in of the conference of eleven teams, and playing with a 2-8 record.
This game marked Angelo State’s fifth victory over the ‘Cats in the last six meetings, further brewing the rivalry. Coach Lavender and her team are eager to take on the now 7-3 Rambelles again this Saturday in hopes of a drastically different outcome.
The rematch tips off this Saturday, Jan. 21 at 5:30 p.m. in the Junell Center at Angelo State.
