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The ACU women’s basketball team is on a roll. After yet another home victory, 79-62 over McNeese State, the Wildcats have won nine straight match ups and are in sole possession of first place in the Southland Conference at 4-0 and 13-2 overall.
But if the Wildcats are going to earn their tenth straight victory, they’re going to have to do it on the road against Stephen F. Austin, a team head coach Julie Goodenough believes is always dangerous.
“SFA is the perennial powerhouse in the Southland,” Goodenough said. “They believe they should win every game, that’s why they are hard to beat”‹, especially at home.”
SFA is just 7-8 overall this season and 1-3 in Southland Conference play, but they boast an impressive 5-2 record at home and all three of their conference losses have been by single digits .
The Ladyjacks also return eight players from last year’s team which finished second in the conference, including junior guard Taylor Ross, who is fifth in the Southland in scoring with 14.8 points per game. Ross sits just below ACU’s junior guard Alexis Mason, who is averaging 14.9 points, and put in 26 points in the win over McNeese State.
Although the Wildcats are winless against SFA over the last two seasons, coming up just short a year ago 71-69 in overtime, ACU is currently the hottest team in the Southland Conference and possibly any mid-major conference.
The Wildcats came in 21st in the latest mid-majors top 25 poll.
“Our goal is to strive for excellence,” Goodenough said. “With each new success, our standard for excellence changes. For example, we are #21 in the country this week, so let’s play to win and move up into the top 20.”
Offensively, ACU is averaging 67.5 points a game this conference season, but SFA has allowed 65 points or less in all four of their conference games.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats have held two opponents to less than 50 points, and SFA has only broken 60 points in one Southland matchup.
Gametime is scheduled for 4 p.m. Saturday and the game will be televised on ESPN3, as the teams look for early conference season defining wins.
