By Jeff Craig, Sports Writer
The women’s basketball team is gearing up for a couple of big home games as it enters the final stretch of the regular season.
The Wildcats currently sit at 13-7 overall with a 5-1 record in Lone Star Conference South play; rival West Texas A&M leads the pack in the South with a 5-0 overall conference mark. The Wildcats have won four-straight games and five of their last six, and head into the season’s final seven regular season games riding a wave of momentum.
ACU’s first of back-to-back games will take place Saturday when Texas-Permian Basin visits Moody Coliseum at 2 p.m. The game against UTPB will be the Wildcats’ final non-conference game of the season but remains important nonetheless. The Lady Falcons have compiled a 4-14 record this year; however, head coach Shawna Lavender thinks no victory is automatic.
“I think that they are playing much better now than they were when we played them earlier this year; however, I also think that we are playing better now than we were then,” Lavender said. “We have to not look ahead to our next conference game.”
The second of the Wildcats’ upcoming home games will take place Tuesday when Texas A&M-Kingsville comes to town at 6 p.m. The Lady Javelinas’ overall record is identical to ACU’s at 13-7; however, they have compiled a 3-2 record in conference play. Last month, the Wildcats knocked off the Javelinas on the road 71-62, setting up a rematch at Moody Coliseum. Lavender expects a competitive game against a good Kingsville team.
“Kingsville is really tough,” she said. “When we played them earlier this year, they were missing one of their good post-players. I’m sure that they will make adjustments and mix up their defense.”
The importance of the Wildcats’ game against Texas A&M-Kingsville transcends the court. The women’s basketball team will be sponsoring a Pink Zone game that evening. The Pink Zone is a program created and run by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) to raise awareness for breast cancer. The Pink Zone was founded in 2007 under the name “Think Pink.” That year, 120 schools got together to raise awareness and funds for research. This past year, the number of participating schools increased tenfold to more than 1,200, raising $930,000 for breast-cancer research.
The Pink Zone carries special meaning this year with the recent passing of North Carolina State coaching legend Kay Yow, who died on Jan. 24 after a long, courageous battle with breast cancer. The WBCA has set up a fund through Pink Zone called the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. Lavender attributes much of the success of Pink Zone to the persistence and dedication of Yow.
“This was really done in honor of Kay and to the inspiration she was to coaches and women,” Lavender said.
ACU fans can play a part in Pink Zone by wearing pink to Tuesday’s game. At the game, a fundraiser accompanying different events will try to raise awareness for breast cancer; all funds received at the game will go to the Abilene Alliance for Women and Children.
