Abilene Christian women’s basketball defeated The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday night, and the game was mostly decided before the second quarter started.

The Wildcats led 24-6 after the first quarter, holding the Vaqueros to 1-of-13 shooting. After that, the game was even. UTRGV outscored ACU 53-52 over the final three quarters, and the margin sat between 17 and 20 points at every break after the first. ACU shot 36% in the fourth quarter (4-of-11), and the Vaqueros won it 17-14.

“You take away the first quarter, we win 53-52,” UTRGV head coach Lane Lord said after the game. “But it’s four quarters.”

Physicality and the press were the problem early. “They came out and just smacked us in the mouth,” Lord said. “It took us a whole quarter to figure out what to do.”

UTRGV turned the ball over 17 times, and ACU scored 20 points off those turnovers. The Wildcats finished with nine steals. Janette Aarnio, who played 38 minutes for the Vaqueros, had eight of the turnovers, though Lord said five of them weren’t her fault. ACU also dominated inside, outscoring UTRGV 44-12 in the paint.

Payton Hull, the United Athletic Conference’s preseason player of the year, led ACU with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and four steals. Erin Woodson scored 14. Meredith Mayes was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field for 13 points and seven rebounds, and Raimi McCrary gave the Wildcats 12 off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting.

ACU shot 5-of-21 from three and 17-of-27 at the line, and committed 23 fouls. UTRGV’s Kamryn McLaurin made 12 of 13 free throws on her way to 18 points, and Lina Fimbo grabbed 12 rebounds for the Vaqueros.

“I was proud of the way after half that we matched their intensity,” Lord said.

ACU coach Julie Goodenough said Monday, two days before the game, that the team was “still far from where we need to be” in communicating during games. She said it would improve “the more games we get under our belt,” and that her main takeaway from the season’s first week was the effort. The Wildcats started that way Wednesday, but the lead stayed flat for the next three quarters.

Up next: TCU

The Wildcats (3-0) get a tougher test Sunday against No. 15 TCU, who is 5-0 after opening the season with a 99-43 win over Oral Roberts on Nov. 3.

The Horned Frogs won the Big 12 regular season title last year, and one player to watch is guard Jadyn Wooten, a junior who transferred from Oklahoma State. She led the Big 12 last season with a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio, according to TCU.

Tipoff is at 2 p.m. Sunday at Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth. The game streams on ESPN+