The ACU women’s basketball team will take on Southeastern Louisiana University on Saturday, Feb. 7 in Moody Coliseum at 2 p.m.
The 3-7 conference and 11-10 overall Wildcats will attempt to overtake the 3-6 Lady Lions for ninth place in the Southland conference, but such a low conference record doesn’t fairly represent the talent that SELU puts out on the court.
Southeastern will be led by senior point guard Elizabeth Styles. Styles, who leads the entire Southland conference in assists with 6.4, a full 1.5 assists per game ahead of the current player in second place, and is averaging 11.0 points per game. She was a major part of SELU’s most recent 58-52 win against Northwestern State University, compiling 11 assists and scoring nine points while playing all 40 minutes, helping snap Southeastern’s four game losing streak.
Another Lady Lion that the Wildcats will need to look out for is junior forward Nanna Pool. Both an offensive force and a defensive powerhouse, the six-foot-one-inch Pool is one of the Southland’s best in multiple categories on both sides of the ball. From scoring 11.8 points per game, to being third in the conference with 9.5 rebounds per game and seventh in the conference with 1.1 blocks a game, Pool will be prepared to brutalize the Wildcats in every aspect of play and the ACU coaches will need to contain and pressured the forward significantly if the Wildcats hope to grab another conference win at Moody this season.
The Wildcats’ best chance at defeating the Lady Lions will be continuing the success that they have had from their starters, specifically the play of sophomores Sydney Shelstead and Suzzy Dimba. Currently combining for 24.6 points per game and 16.9 rebounds per game, both will need to their best at home against Southeastern.
After losing multiple close games to some of the Southland conference’s best this season, including a 71-69 overtime loss at home against 6-2 Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 17, and a 73-58 loss to Lamar at home, the Wildcats cannot afford to continue to drop close games against conference opponents, especially those like SELU that are near the bottom of the barrel in the conference.
