COMMERCE -- Two different players combined to hit hit 5 of 6 free throws in the final 46 seconds Saturday afternoon as the cold-shooting ACU Wildcats escaped with a 56-51 win over Texas A&M-Commerce in a Lone Star Conference women's crossover basketball game at the TAMC Field House.
The Wildcats' third straight win pushes them to 5-3 on the season, while the Lions fall to 1-4 on the year. ACU will be back in action Monday at 7 p.m. when the Wildcats take on Texas Woman's in another crossover game in Denton.
ACU trailed only once in the game (30-28 with 17:30 left in the game), but was forced to finish it off at the free throw line. Fortunately for the Wildcats,
Kat Kundmueller hit 3 of 4 from the stripe and
Jamie Meyer iced it with two free throws to make it a 56-51 game with six seconds to play.
Meyer finished with 18 points for the Wildcats, while Kundmueller had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five assists. ACU, though, shot just 27.6 percent from the floor (16 of 58), including going 0 for 11 from 3-point range.
Fortunately for the Wildcats the Lions were even worse from the field, hitting just 14 off 55 shots from the field (25.5 percent). The Lions only made nine two-point field goals, going 9 for 32 inside the 3-point arc.
Early on the game appeared as though the Wildcats would walk away with an easy win as they jumped out to a commanding 17-1 lead with 10:26 left in the first half.
Autumn Whitaker -- who finished with 10 points for ACU -- capped the game-opening run with a pair of free throws to make it a 16-point ACU lead.
Genevieve Campbell hit Commerce's first field goal by converting a layup with 10:16 left in the half to make it 17-3. That was the start of a 16-1 Commerce run that cut ACU's lead to 18-17 with 5:44 left in the half. The Wildcats settled for a 27-22 halftime lead and then hit their free throws down the stretch to pick up the win.
