by NEW ORLEANS – A 24-point third quarter outburst followed by clutch free-throw shooting and several defensive stops late in the fourth led Abilene Christian women’s basketball to a 59-52 victory at New Orleans Wednesday night in the Southland Conference season opener for both teams at Lakefront Arena.
With several players in foul trouble, ACU (8-4, 1-0 SLC) was limited to only two points in the second quarter but still went into the break up 20-19. Then coming out of halftime the Wildcats took off on a 16-7 run in grabbing their first ten-point lead of the night at 36-26.
ACU was led offensively during this stretch by Sara Williamson, who scored 10 of her 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. The Wildcats also received one of two 3-pointers from Dominique Golightly (Kiowa), and a bucket from Lexie Ducat, which forced the Privateers (4-6, 0-1 SLC) into a timeout down 27-21.
ACU would lead the rest of the night, but UNO twice marched back with a pair of 8-2 runs. Their first in the third quarter cut the Wildcats’ advantage to 38-35, and their one in the fourth made it a 53-51 ballgame. But down the stretch, Golightly sank a much-needed layup to put the Wildcats up by four points at 55-51 and then Breanna Wright (20 points) iced the game with four consecutive free throws.
Golightly and Williamson each were second to Wright with 12 points, and were both part of a key play to end the third quarter as Williamson’s block on UNO’s final possession led to a Makayla Mabry rebound (14 rebounds) and Golightly’s subsequent 3-pointer at the buzzer that put ACU ahead 44-36 after 30 minutes of play.
The Wildcats shot 58.7 percent in the third quarter, and 40.7 percent for the game. By comparison, UNO shot 34.7 percent for the game and made just one of 12 3-point attempts while missing on seven of 24 free throws (.708).
ACU led 18-10 after the first quarter on 50.0 percent shooting, but with three starters (Williamson, Ducat, Golightly) in foul trouble points were hard to find in the second quarter (for both teams) as they were outscored, 9-2. Wright scored ACU’s lone basket (1-of-13) on a layup at the 2:30 mark.
Thankfully, the Privateers were equally inept on offense in hitting on only 2-of-11 second quarter field goals, but grabbed a brief one-point lead at 19-18 thanks to five free throws.
UNO’s last point of the second quarter came with 2:48 remaining and hit its last field goal with 5:10 before the halftime.
ACU shot only 15.4 percent from 3-point range all game, but made up for that by outscoring the Privateers in the paint, 40-20. The Wildcats additionally scored nine points off UNO turnovers and a 42-34 rebounding advantage led to nine second-chance points.
