by HOUSTON – A 10-0 run to start the third quarter helped Abilene Christian women’s basketball dig out of a small halftime deficit en route to a 72-62 win against Houston Baptist at Sharp Gym Wednesday night. The Wildcats are now 8-0 all-time vs. the Huskies since joining the Southland Conference for the 2013-14 season.
Four ACU starters scored in double figures led by junior Dominique Golightly’s (Kiowa Tribe) 20 points. Sophomore Makayla Mabry also was instrumental in the victory with a career high 14 rebounds, and junior Lexie Ducat registered her second double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Junior Breanna Wright, who buried all three of her 3-pointers in the turnaround third quarter, finished with 11 points and five assists, while senior Sara Williamson tallied 15 points on 5-7 shooting.
ACU led by as many as nine points in the first half, but found itself down 28-25 in the closing seconds as the Huskies were putting the finishing touches on an 18-6 run. Williamson, however, was sent to the free throw line on the Wildcats’ final possession and her two clutch buckets made it a one-point game at halftime.
The game was then essentially turned on its head as the Wildcats began the second half with 10 consecutive points in building a 37-28 lead. Ducat scored the first four points with a pair of free throws and layup. Golightly and Williamson followed with three additional baskets all made within 69 seconds.
HBU briefly countered with consecutive buckets by Kennedy Collins and Sophie Taylor, but Wright answered with back-to-back treys made within a 27-second span that put the visitors ahead, 43-32. Wright’s third 3-pointer of the quarter came with 2:24 left in the quarter, and the next two free throws from Golightly gave ACU its largest lead of the night at 52-38.
The Huskies got as close as six points several times in the fourth quarter only to see the Wildcats respond. Ducat’s layup at 6:10 snapped a 7-0 HBU run, and after a jumper from Taylor made it a 57-51 game, Golightly finished a pass from Williamson for one of her two 3-pointers. The Wildcats then hit four consecutive free throws (from Williamson and Alyssa Adams), and Golightly’s layup at 2:47 once again gave ACU a double-digit advantage at 66-56.
HBU would make only one field goal over the last 2:30 (1-8) as it finished with a .366 field-goal percentage (26-71). ACU shot 41.7 percent by comparison (25-60) with 36 points in the paint, 13 second-chance points and 46 rebounds.
