ACU (9-11, 5-6) cruised past Seattle (1-20, 1-11) Thursday night, taking down the Redhawks by a final score of 82-63, snapping a four game losing streak for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats opened up the first quarter by taking an early 8-2 lead after an and-one from graduate forward Clare Traeger. The Wildcats played a solid first quarter, yet Seattle was able to hang with ACU, and at the end of the first ten minutes of play, the Wildcats found themselves up 18-16.
The Wildcats got their first points of the second quarter thanks to a three-pointer from junior guard Bella Earle to go up 21-17. After Seattle would even things up at 21, freshman guard Payton Hull sank a three-pointer to regain the lead for the Wildcats.
After Seattle responded with a three, ACU would go on an 11-1 run over the next five minutes, capped off by another three-pointer from Hull. Freshman guard Gracy Wernli knocked down a three-pointer in the final ACU possession of the half to give the Wildcats a 10-point lead going into the second half.
The Wildcats continued to extend the lead in the third quarter getting up by as much as 19 after a three pointer from Earle with 3:18 left in the quarter. Seattle would hit two free throws in the final seconds of the quarter, yet the Wildcats still held a comfortable lead at 63-46 with ten minutes remaining.
ACU continued to dominate in the fourth, extending the lead to as much as 24 but ultimately closing out a 19-point win at 82-63.
The Wildcats finished with 11 threes and 40 points coming in the paint to go along with a 48.4 field goal percentage.
Earle had an impressive game leading the team in points with 18, rebounds with six and assists with seven. Junior guard Zoe Jackson finished with 13 points and five rebounds, while redshirt-sophomore Addison Martin finished with 12 points. Hull also finished in double figures with ten of her own.
The two teams will meet again on March 7, this time in Seattle in the Wildcats second-to-last regular season game.
The Wildcats have a chance to build off the impressive win on Saturday when they host Utah Valley at 1 p.m. in Moody Coliseum with the game streaming live on ESPN+.
Quotes will be added following head coach Julie Goodenough’s next press conference.
