The Wildcats have won seven of their last eight games to wrap up their conference schedule, including a win Thursday night against Utah Valley University 71-62.
Head Coach Julie Goodenough said key factors to this hot streak are sharing the ball and communicating well.
“It’s just about reading the defense,” she said. “If someone has a better shot than you, you have to square up and figure out how to get the ball in their hands. We want to turn down good shots for great shots.”
The Wildcats had 13 assists on their 21 made shots in Thursday’s game, with Bella Earle and Breanna Davis each tallying four.
Earle, senior guard from Corinth, led the charge against the Wolverines with a near-triple-double performance, with 26 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals.
Zoe Jackson, senior guard from McKinney, missed the team’s first matchup against UVU due to an injury, so she felt she could have an impact by giving Davis, junior guard from Red Oak, rest as the only other point guard on the team.
“I can definitely relieve some of the pressure from our point guard, Bre,” Jackson said. “Just going out there, making good passes and shooting when I’m open and giving the ball to my teammates is definitely gonna make a difference.”
Jackson also missed the team’s first game against Grand Canyon University and will look to impact Saturday’s game as well. Her return from injury has been more intense than anticipated with only two healthy point guards on the team, but Jackson has the team’s best interest in mind with her increased minutes.
“I’m just glad to go out there and showcase my skills and effort for my teammates,” Jackson said.
The Wildcats’ final four games of the season are against opponents they lost to in the season’s first matchup: Tarleton State University, University of Texas-Arlington, UVU and GCU. Goodenough said the team did not play well against these teams the first time around and is an entirely different team.
“We’re on a revenge tour and last week was the first chapter, this is the second chapter,” she said. “We feel like our team has evolved so much from the first time we played all of them.”
The Wildcats will close their regular season play against GCU on Saturday at 3 p.m. before traveling to Las Vegas to participate in the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
