The Wildcats captured a huge win in Witchita Falls against Midwestern, 85-72 behind another huge night from Junior Mack Lankford. Lankford scored a season-high 33 points in the win, after scoring 31 points against Tarleton last Saturday.
“She (Lankford) was just in that shooter’s zone and she was amazing out there,” Head Coach Julie Goodenough said. “She showed a lot of toughness coming back into the game after hurting her ankle so I was really proud of her and of just how the overall team played.”
Lankford’s 33 points came off 10-16 shooting, including 5-9 from three-point land. She also was an impressive 8-9 from the charity strike with five steals. Junior Renata Marquez had 14 points and 6 rebs., while freshmen Kynzie Newman and Whitney West added 10 points each. Sophomore Sadie Dickinson had 9 points in 20 minutes.
“I felt like our team was very confident coming into the game and we really believed we could come in and compete against a really great team,” Goodenough said.
The Wildcats went into halftime with an impressive fifteen point lead, and was able to even push the lead up to nineteen with 17:39 left in the game. MSU went on a 23-11 run after Lankford left briefly due to an ankle injury to cut the score to 64-57 with 9:31 to play. Although being outrebounded 45-24, the Lady ‘Cats were able to hold on and secure the win.
“We did give up a few runs, but the important thing is how we responded to adversity,” Goodenough said. “We were able to get back to our playing style, pushing the pace and knocking down threes.”
The ACU win snapped Midwestern’s eleven game win streak and tied the Wildcats for first place in the LSC with Midwestern. Both teams are 18-4 and 13-3 in the Lone Star Conference. Since the tough loss to Eastern New Mexico, the Wildcats have won three in a row, including the first and second ranked teams in the LSC.
“After every loss, we use it as a learning experience to get prepared for the next team,” Goodenough said. “I always tell them ‘enjoy the win now, but be ready to get back to work tomorrow’.”
ACU will play their next game on the road due to Sing Song weekend. The Wildcats will take on Cameron University in Lawton, Okla. at 2 p.m. on Sat. Feb. 6.
