Abilene Christian defeated Nicholls on Wednesday night 76-66. The Wildcats played at an unusual venue in the Mabee Complex on Hardin Simmons’ campus due to Moody Coliseum being occupied for Sing Song.
Senior guard Sara Williamson propelled the Wildcats shooting an efficient 11-14 with 24 points and four steals.
“We knew coming into the game that Nicholls has had success this season when they get the ball in the paint, so we knew we had to prevent them from getting in the paint and tonight we were able to do just that,” Williamson said. “We’ve had trouble finishing games in the last couple weeks, but we were able to lock in tonight and take control to finish out the game strong.”
The previous two games, Abilene Christian was outscored by a combined 14 points last week, but the Wildcats finished strong Wednesday evening.
In the first quarter, the Colonels started off 3-6 from the court. Meanwhile, ACU had trouble making shots as they missed their first nine field goals. Their first made shot of the night for the Wildcats came with just over four minutes left in the first. Entering the second quarter, Nicholls trailed 16-14 after the Wildcats made their last five shots of the previous segment.
Senior guard Cassidy Barrios for the Colonels led her team finishing the game with a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds playing all 40 minutes. She finished strong with 11 of her points coming in the fourth quarter.
The third quarter is where ACU took full control of the game going on an impressive 11-0 run early in that segment giving them a 44-30 lead. The second half is when Wildcats’ Williamson caught fire going 8-9 and 18 total points helping ACU improve to 15-8 on the season.
Miscues have been a big issue for ACU this entire season averaging in the bottom half of the conference in turnovers per game. Tonight, however, they limited themselves to only 14 turnovers which was a key factor in the game.
Up next, Abilene Christian will travel south to San Antonio to face Incarnate Word Saturday at 1 p.m. Meanwhile, Nicholls looks to bounce back from their loss as they’ll also head south to face Houston Baptist Saturday at 2 p.m.
