February 6, 2013
ACU RACES PAST LIONS IN SECOND HALF, 75-61
Abilene Christian 75, A&M-Commerce 61
Location: The Field House – Commerce, Texas
Records: Abilene Christian (16-4, 11-3 LSC); A&M-Commerce (7-11, 5-8 LSC)
Up Next: at Angelo State – Saturday, Feb. 9th – San Angelo, Texas – 5:30 p.m.
Commerce, Texas – Abilene Christian came out of halftime and was on fire hitting on all cylinders on offense and overcame a five point halftime deficit to beat A&M-Commerce 75-61 on Wednesday night in LSC action. The win keeps ACU within a ½ game of first place and the loss drops A&M-C to a tie with Angelo State for sixth going into Saturday's game in San Angelo.
The Lions came out strong in the first half scoring 16 of their first 24 points from inside the paint. Both sides traded baskets for the opening eight points a side then A&M-C took the lead for good at 10-8 at the 13:48 mark of the half. The Lions extended the lead to as many as 10 with 6:36 left in the half at 27-17. Abilene Christian ended the half on a five nothing run to make it 33-28 heading into the break.
Breanna Harris had a double-double in the first half with 11 and 10. Danielle Dixon had eight points and six rebounds along with three assists. Aubree Butts, La'Tisha Hearne and Symone Brown had four a piece. Michelle Sutton added two points and three assists. The Lions outscored the Wildcats 20-8 in the paint and had the edge in second chance points at 8-3.
ACU was led by Whitney West with her 14 points on four of five from behind the arc. Kelsey Smith had four. Emily Miller and Sadie Dickenson had three each. Mackenzie Lankford and Kynzie Newman each had two to round out the scoring for the Wildcats.
A Breanna Harris lay-up made it 37-33 Lions then the Wildcat defense tightened up and held the Lions scoreless for nearly four minutes while ACU reeled off 11 to give themselves a 44-37 lead and would not look back. The Lions cut the lead to three twice but were unable to tie it or take the lead. The Wildcats extended their lead to as many as 16 in the final minute.
Harris finished the game high scorer with 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds including nine offensive rebounds. That is her ninth double-double of the season. Dixon finished with her own double-double with 16 and 10. Symone Brown had 10 points and five rebounds. Aubree Butts had six points, three rebounds and three assists. La'Tisha Hearne finished with four and three boards along with two steals. Michelle Sutton capped the scoring with two points and three assists.
The Lions take the floor next on Saturday when they travel to San Angelo to face the Rambelles of Angelo State for second time this season. Tip-off is set for 5:30 in San Angelo. This game will go a long way in determining the bottom half of the bracket for the conference tournament in March.
