The women’s basketball team is gearing up for what head coach Julie Goodenough called a three-game “holiday homestand” which begins with the University of Texas at San Antonio this weekend.
This is the third year in a row the teams have met, as ACU and UTSA each enter with a .500 record of 1-1. UTSA has bested the Wildcats in both meetings the last two years and is 2-0 all-time.
The first time these teams met in 2013 ACU held its own until the very end, eventually falling by five points 63-58.
Last year the Wildcats again played well for most of the game, but ran out of gas toward the end of the game, losing 70-56. However, unlike last year ACU has already faced a strong Div. I program in Kansas State. Although they lost the game, the Wildcats should be more accustomed to the gameplay then they have been in the previous years.
UTSA is picked to finish seventh in Conference USA this season, while ACU is picked to finish ninth in the Southland Conference.
ACU will then play University of the Southwest (2-3) in what will be Coach Goodenough’s 600th game of her career. She is 356-252 with a .579 winning percentage in her 21 seasons as a head coach.
The men’s basketball team defeated USW earlier this season 94-63 in Moody Coliseum, as the women will try and garner the same results against the respectable NAIA school.
Finally the Wildcats will finish their homestand with a showdown against Missouri Valley College (2-1) on Black Friday. Last year ACU went 2-0 the weekend after Thanksgiving with wins over George Mason and the University of Missouri-Kansas City in the Pizza Lights Classic.
It will be the first time in school history the Wildcats have ever faced the University of the Southwest and Missouri Valley College.
Junior Sydney Shelstead will look to keep her double-double streak alive, as she has posted one in each of the first two games this season.