The ACU women’s basketball team will take on Stephen F. Austin at 2 p.m. Saturday in Moody Coliseum as part of a double header with the 9-7 overall and 3-0 conference Southland-leading men’s basketball team, which will also play the Lumberjacks at 11 a.m.

Women’s head coach Julie Goodenough said the team will have to play its best basketball if it wants to get the better of its fellow Southland conference member.

“We have a huge challenge in front of us,” she said. “Stephen F. is arguably one of the most talented teams in the conference.”

The game will be the team’s first home game with a student-populated audience since its second game in November as all others since then have been during Thanksgiving or winter break. The team had three wins and two losses during that time.

Goodenough said the coaches and players alike are eager to get back to playing in front of the devoted ACU student body.

“We’re really excited the students are back,” Goodenough said. “The campus is going to come to life, and our players have an opportunity to get back into a regular schedule. Obviously we love playing at home, and the crowd does make a huge difference. They provide a lot of energy for our team.”

The women’s team has been playing its best basketball at Moody this season with a 5-2 home record, but is currently 0-2 in its last two games at home, falling 66-60 to the University of Central Arkansas Jan. 4, and 63-39 to Nicholls States University Jan. 11.

Goodenough said the team has struggled at home as of late, but is absolutely capable of getting back on a winning track if it plays at the level she knows the team can.

“If we can regroup and respond the way that I think we can as women of character, I think we can rally and have a good game,” she said. “But it’s going to be a big challenge. The Stephen F. players are really talented and we’re going to have to have an extreme team effort.”