The Wildcat women’s basketball team faced off against Tarleton State on Sat. Feb. 9 at Moody Coliseum. The Lady ‘Cats took the game convincingly, 86-70 and moved to 17-4 on the season, including 12-3 in the Lone Star Conference. Tarleton is now 15-5 and 11-3 in the LSC. The win ended ACU’s eight game losing streak against Tarleton and move to 9-2 when playing on their home court. The Wildcats also move into second place in the LSC, while Tarleton falls to third.

“Defensive stops allowed us to get high percentage shots in transition so I would definitely credit the defense for the win,” head coach Julie Goodenough said.

The first half was extremely close as neither team was able to establish much of a lead. With 5:30 left in the half, ACU led 33-30 behind great shooting from junior Mack Lankford behind the arc. The Wildcats then went on a 22-6 run, behind an explosion of three point shots, none bigger than a last second steal and a buzzer beating three by sophomore Sadie Dickinson to give the Wildcats a 55-36 lead at the half.

“Mack [Lankford] and Sadie [Dickinson] ran away with it at the point, they both made really big heads-up plays and pushed our lead,” senior Kelsey Smith said. “We just hit more big shots and locked down on the defensive end.”

The second half showed a greater emphasis on defensive pressure from the Wildcats as they forced Tarleton into bad shots and hustled to grab more rebounds. ACU pushed the lead up to nineteen with 11:34 left in the game as senior Kelsey Smith converted on her second three-point play of the night. Tarleton was able to cut the Wildcat lead to ten, after their 11-2 run. With 2:00 left, ACU was able to push the lead back to eighteen and hold on for the big win at home.

“It shows a lot about our team and is a huge statement to be able to get the win against a great team like Tarleton,” Goodenough said.

ACU was led by a superb performance by Lankford, who had 31 points, 25 in the first half, on 9-14 shooting, including 6-10 from three point land. Dickinson also added 20 points, 6 rebs. and was 9-10 from the free throw line. Junior Renata Marquez, freshman Kynzie Newman and Smith all had 9 points apiece and a combined 15 rebounds. Tarleton was carried by a 13 point-23 reb. performance by junior Kiara Wright and 21 points from junior Peyton Adamson.

The Wildcats will take on LSC leader Midwestern State (18-3, 13-2) today (Wed. Feb. 13) at Wichita Falls, TX.