The Wildcats prepare for the upcoming 2023 season and their second season of Western Athletic Conference competition.
In the 2022 season, ACU ended with a 25-26 overall record and went 15-9 in the conference, ending their run in the WAC Tournament with back-to-back losses against Utah Valley and Seattle.
Moving into their second WAC season, the Wildcats have found themselves in a steady position but look to improve from last season.
“I think there’s a ton of excitement,” head coach Abigail Farler said. “We just want to see what we can do as a team, not scrimmaging ourselves anymore and playing some outside competition.”
ACU looks to play familiar competitions including non-conference Texas Tech and the University of Texas at El Paso. The Wildcats added Baylor at home to the schedule for the first time since 2020.
In conference, ACU will face Utah Tech, Southern Utah, Utah Valley, Tarleton, UT Arlington, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, and New Mexico State, leading up to the WAC Tournament in May.
With established conference competitors, Farler is firm that the girl’s confidence will teach them to take risks and set big goals for the season.
“A lot of passion and confidence,” Farler said. “Confidence is a big key for the girls. They want to be able to take risks and trust themselves. So we have numeric goals that are big goals for us and we want to be able to glorify God and create a good competition platform.”
ACU will start off its spring season by hosting the Wildcat Invitational at the beginning of February leading into its five-tournament lineup.
The Wildcats are taking part in UTSA Tournament meeting teams including Lamar, UTSA, South Dakota State, and Texas A&M – Corpus Christi in mid-February. In the following weekend, ACU will travel to Austin to participate in the Lone Star State Invitational, taking on teams including Texas Southern, Virginia Tech, and Texas.
Starting the month of March, the Wildcats will take the trip to Starkville, Mississippi to play in The Snowman hosted by Mississippi State taking on teams including Mississippi State, Murray State, and Dartmouth. Closing out their tournament series with the GCU Tournament in the middle of March in Phoenix, Arizona taking on teams including Colorado State and Grand Canyon.
Alongside their 12 returning players, ACU added 10 new players to the roster including five freshmen and five transfers. With these new members, the team balances out holding team values and bringing new competition to the plate.
“I think our girls really know what their strengths are,” Farler said. “They know what each other strengths are and they’re excited to go out and watch each other compete and fight for the good of the whole.”
The Wildcats start off their season by hosting the Wildcat Invitational this weekend playing Texas A&M – Corpus Christi at 4 p.m. and UTEP at 7 p.m. on Friday, Murray State at 1 p.m. and UTEP at 4 p.m. on Saturday and Texas A&M – Corpus Christi at 1 p.m. on Sunday. All games will be played at Poly Wells Field with both Friday games streaming on ESPN+.
