The Wildcats had two games this past week, starting off with a trip to San Antonio, TX to take on the University of the Incarnate Word (5-14, 3-5) on Thursday, before heading home to take on McNeese State University (10-9, 5-3) on Saturday.
ACU would jump out to a hot start against Incarnate Word, ending the first quarter with a 27-17 lead, but would fizzle out in the second quarter as the Wildcats would only muster five points before the half, the first two of those points not coming until 3:03 was left in the quarter. The Cardinals would make the most of this opportunity to take a 36-32 lead at the break.
ACU reset itself during halftime and came out looking like its usual self in the third quarter as they outscored the Cardinals 25-13 to regain the lead and take hold of the game from there on out.
The Cardinals would challenge that lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, coming as close as four points, but the Wildcats would use several defensive stops and trips to the charity line to cushion their lead and pull out the victory.
Alexis Mason was the leading scorer for ACU, as she netted 26. This was the third-straight game for Mason to score over 20. Lizzy Dimba finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds on the night to give her a team-high fifth double-double on the season. Suzzy Dimba finished the game with a well-rounded stat line of 10 points, nine rebounds, five blocks, and four assists.
UIW’s Celia Garcia Paunero finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds.
Even though ACU shot 36.4 percent from the field, compared to UIW’s 39.7 percent, the Wildcats would take advantage of their 48-37 advantage on the rebounds and outscored the Cardinals on the second chance points 16-6.
On Saturday, ACU would lead from beginning to end as it would go up by as many as 18 against McNeese. The Cowgirls had a dismal time from behind the arc as they only managed to knock down three of the 22 attempts (13.6).
The Wildcats were led by Sydney Shelstead, who posted her fifth double-double on the season with 21 points and 13 rebounds, also adding a career-high four blocks. Three more Wildcats got into double digit scoring, Breanna Wright had 12 points, Mason had 11, and Lizzy Dimba had 10.
The Wildcats would make the most of it on the offensive side, as they finished with a .500 field goal percentage for the game, compared to McNeese’s .369.
The Wildcats (13-7, 7-1) are tied with Stephen F. Austin (16-3, 7-1) for the lead in the conference as the Wildcats head to Corpus Christi, TX for their next game as they take on the Islanders from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (8-12, 4-5) on Wednesday.
