by ABILENE – A 3-pointer from freshman Kayla Galindo followed by clutch free-throw shooting over the final two minutes provided Abilene Christian women’s basketball with a hard-fought 80-75 victory over McNeese Wednesday night at Burton Coliseum.
The Wildcats are 9-4 overall and off to their third consecutive 3-0 start vs. the Southland Conference, while the Cowgirls fell to 6-8 and 2-1. ACU is one of four undefeated teams in league play along with Central Arkansas, Lamar and Stephen F. Austin.
ACU dominated the first half, going into the halftime break ahead 43-28, and grabbed its largest lead of the game at 18 points on the first possession of the third quarter when junior Sara Williamson assisted on one of sophomore Dominique Golightly’s (Kiowa Tribe) three triples.
But the host Cowgirls soon trimmed their deficit to single digits thanks to a 15-6 run and were only down eight (59-51) after a layup by Keara Hudnall with 48 seconds remaining. Golightly again responded with a 3-pointer to begin the final quarter, but by the five-minute mark it was suddenly a one-possession game as a layup from Dede Sheppard made it a 66-63 contest.
The Wildcats, however, punched right back with Williamson’s lone trey of the game coming off a dish from sophomore Breanna Wright, who finished with five assists in addition to 17 points and three rebounds.
McNeese continued to hang around by making 9-of-10 fourth-quarter free-throw attempts, and a Hudnall trey with 51 seconds to go again brought the Cowgirls to within three points of a tie game. But Golightly blocked Regan Bolton’s 3-point attempt on McNeese’s next possession and then Caitlin Davis (16 points, 7 assists) turned the ball over to Lexi Kirgan (3 blocks, 2 steals) with 11 seconds to go.
ACU made its final four free throws sandwiched around a Jasmyn Carswell layup to maintain its five-point lead and forced the Cowgirls to burn all eight remaining seconds before Bolton put up her eighth and final three-point attempt.
Three-point shooting was one of the big differences in the ball game as the Wildcats connected on 9-of-19 attempts (47.4 percent) while holding the Cowgirls to a 21.7 percent (5-of-23) success rate. Three of ACU’s 3-pointers were in the fourth quarter, and it was 4-of-6 during its 28-point second quarter (10-15 overall).
Both sides were close to flawless from the free-throw line. ACU knocked down 25-of-28 attempts (89.3) led by Wright’s 12-13 effort, and the Cowgirls sank 24-of-27 tries (88.9).
Wright and Golightly tied for the team lead in points at 17 followed by Williamson who bucketed 10 of her 12 points in the second half. Starters Galindo and senior Sierra Allen (seven rebounds) each chipped in nine points.
The Cowgirls had four players reach double figures in scoring led by Davis’ 16 points.
ACU shot 50 percent in the first half (14-28), which included a 5-10 performance from beyond the arc and 10-11 showing at the free throw line. The Wildcats finished the first quarter on a 8-0 run capped a Galindo layup and steadily increased their lead throughout the second with freshman Josie Larson (six points) burying a trey at the buzzer.
The Wildcats return to action Saturday, Jan. 6 at 2 p.m. vs. Southeastern Louisiana. The game kicks off a three-game homestand at Moody Coliseum, which runs through Jan. 20.
