ACU’s historic season came to an end Saturday in Vegas with a 74-58 loss to California Baptist in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.
The Wildcats finished the season 23-10 overall and 13-6 in conference play, one game shy of head coach Julie Goodenough’s all-time winning season in 2019-20 with 24.
The championship game served as the fourth meeting between the two squads this season, and CBU controlled most of it with a 3-1 series record over the Wildcats. ACU won one game on the road in Riverside, California, and lost the next two at home, then losing in this game.
In the game, ACU had 18 total turnovers to CBU’s 10, which head coach Julie Goodenough said set the tone early.
“I thought we were uncharacteristically loose with the ball the first five minutes of the game,” Goodenough said. “The first quarter was kind of an exclamation point … You just can’t dig a hole against a good team like Cal Baptist.”
Final stats from the game:
E. Woodson: 16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
P. Hull: 10 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists
E. Troxell: 12 points, 12 rebounds
B. Davis: 9 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists
N. Chavez: 8 points, 1 rebound
The Wildcats were picked to finish first in the WAC preseason poll, one spot ahead of CBU, and still put together one of the best seasons in program history despite major adversity as the runner-up in the regular-season title and the postseason championship title.
Going back early for the Wildcats, a key turning point came Jan. 8, when standout forward Meredith Mayes suffered a season-ending leg injury against Tarleton State just three games into conference play, while at a time leading the country in FG percentage. If eligible, she would currently be second only behind Penn State’s star Gracie Merkle.
Despite that loss, ACU continued to roll, going 11-4 in the WAC to end the season.
“Our final season of WAC has been our best season, and just really proud of this group,” Goodenough said.
There may still be postseason basketball ahead with a potential bid into the WNIT, which ACU played in last season, winning two games before falling to Illinois State to officially end the season, but despite what may come next, there’s some optimism: the Wildcats sound like they will be able to get the band back together and run things back.
“Getting Meredith back next year, as well as Emma and Peyton and myself, I think we have great experience, and we’ll have a great chance in the US state next year,” Erin Woodson said.
Emma Troxell doubled down on that optimism into next year.
“When we play together, it works really well.”
