The Wildcats hit an abrupt halt in their Lone Star Conference tournament road as Texas A&M Commerce was able to pull off an upset, 80-79, on Wednesday in Allen.
The Wildcats will now wait until Sunday to see if their season will continue in the NCAA Division II South Central Region Tournament.
“Things just didn’t go the way we thought and you figure that if you score 79 points in a ball game that’ll be enough to win,” Head Coach Julie Goodenough said. “It just wasn’t today.”
ACU came out of the game slow and heavy as they were never able to keep up with Commerce.
The Lions outrebounded the Wildcats 50-24, including 23-3 on the offensive glass. The three point ball did not fall either, as the ‘Lady Cats were 1-10 from beyond the arc after averaging an LSC best 8.7 a game.
“Commerce is the best rebounding team in the conference and they proved it today,” Goodenough said.
“Harris was great tonight and we couldn’t stop her. It’s a tough win for our team but we’ve had a great season and have accomplished a lot more than most people thought we would.”
The second half proved to be no different as the Wildcats were clearly outplayed and outmatched.
ACU had no answer for Commerce’s Breanna Harris, who had 25 points and 15 rebounds, including nine offensive rebounds. She dominated play inside as she hit 8 of 16 shots from the field.
Junior Renata Marquez had another outstanding game with 26 points, a game after she was just a single assist away from recording a triple double.
Junior Mack Lankford finished the afternoon with 15 points.
“We did a great job in the second half of continuing to fight and chip away at the lead,” Goodenough said. “We haven’t been in that many close games all season so for us to keep on fighting like we did shows a lot and I’m just really proud of this team right now.”
Members of the Wildcats were honored earlier this week. Lankford became the eighth player in ACU history to be named to the first team all-Lone Star Conference for three consecutive years.
Lankford averaged 14.2 ppg. on 41 percent FG percentage. Marquez (13.1 ppg. 5.9 rebounds per game) was voted all second team honors, while senior Kelsey Smith (11.2 ppg. 6.8 rebounds per game) was named honorable mention.
In her first year at ACU, Goodenough was selected co-coach of the year along with Commerce’s Nicole Anderson.
Freshman Whitney West was voted the LSC’s freshman of the year, as she averaged 8.1 ppg. in 27 games this season, including a 43 percent 3pt-FG percentage.
