by ABILENE – Five Wildcats scored in double figures led by sophomore guard Dominique Golightly’s (Ki14-point / 12-rebound double-double as Abilene Christian began Southland Conference play Thursday with an 80-70 victory over New Orleans at Moody Coliseum.
The win lifted ACU’s overall mark to 7-4 and home record to 6-1, while the Privateers fell to 4-8 in having their winning streak snapped at three games. The Wildcats also have won their last three contests vs. New Orleans in taking a 4-1 series lead.
UNO early on appeared ready to end their series-losing streak, jumping out to a 10-2 lead by the five-minute mark of the first quarter. But the Wildcats outscored the Privateers 14-4 down the stretch and grabbed only their second lead of the game (16-14) on Golightly’s layup with six seconds left.
The contest remained a battle through the start of the second quarter with the lead changing hands four additional times through the first six minutes. But with all-conference selection Randi Brown on the bench in foul trouble, the Wildcats soon took advantage with a 14-2 run that broke a 23-23 tie.
Freshman Josie Larson hit two of her four 3-pointers during this stretch in finishing the game with a career-high 13 points. Senior Taudenciah Oluoch also was terrific off the bench, scoring 14 points on 6-7 shooting with two free throws as ACU’s two reserves outscored the Privateers’, 27-10.
Larson’s third and fourth triples occurred during a critical moment early in the third quarter after an 8-2 run by the Privateers made it a one-possession game (40-38) at the 6:47 mark. Larson pushed the Wildcats’ advantage back to five at the 6:21 mark, and with three minutes remaining she gave ACU’s its largest lead of the afternoon at 13 points (53-40). Golightly assisted on both these Larson baskets, pulled down two rebounds, and hit a 3-pointer of her own during this key 13-2 outburst for the Wildcats.
Oluoch, meanwhile, scored eight points and pulled down four rebounds in the fourth quarter to keep UNO at bay. And with just under two minutes to go, she assisted on a Golightly basket just after a 3-pointer from Brown cut ACU’s lead to seven points at 71-64.
Oluoch then came up with the defensive rebound following a Golightly block on Alyssa Quixley, and scooped up an offensive board in the paint leading to a 3-point play with 1:26 remaining. Her basket and accompanying foul shot pushed the ACU lead to 12 points.
Freshman Kayla Galindo (9 points, 5 rebounds) further sealed the victory with two free throws at the 1:05 mark and Oluoch buried another jumper in the paint on the Wildcats’ final possession. Sophomore guard Breanna Wright, who was one of three players to finish with 14 points, assisted on Oluoch’s final bucket. She also dished out five assists and pulled down four rebounds in a complete-game effort.
Sara Williamson totaled 11 points, three blocks, and five assists, and it was her buzzer-beating jumper at the end of third quarter that snapped a 4-0 run for UNO and provided ACU a 57-47 lead entering the fourth.
ACU shot 46.6 percent overall (27-58) and sank 11 of its 27 3-point attempts (40.7), while holding New Orleans to 40.4 percent shooting (23-57). The Privateers struggled a bit from beyond the arc (4-13), but more than made up for it at the foul line, where they sank 20-22 freebies.
Brown scored 11 of her game high 27 points from the free-throw line and made all four of her team’s 3-pointers. She went 6-of-24 from the floor.
ACU additionally dominated the glass, 40-29, with no individual Privateer pulling down more than five rebounds.
