CANYON – ACU's fading hopes for a spot in the Lone Star Conference Post-Season Tournament took a serious blow Wednesday night at the First United Bank Center.
The Wildcats never led and were never in the game at West Texas A&M as the Lady Buffs dealt ACU its worst loss of the season, 89-59. The win clinches a spot in the post-season tournament for the Lady Buffs.
ACU, meanwhile, is now 8-13 overall and 3-12 in the LSC and three games out of eighth place. Texas Woman's moved into a three-way tie for sixth place with Incarnate Word and Eastern New Mexico with a 55-48 upset of first-place Tarleton State, which dropped to 14-1 in league play. The top eight teams in the league at the end of the regular season will qualify for the tournament, which will be played the first week of March in Allen.
The Wildcats' hopes took another blow Wednesday night when they learned that Eastern New Mexico had pulled off a 63-58 road upset of Angelo State. The Zias are now in seventh in the LSC at 8-13 and 6-9. The last time the Wildcats failed to qualify for the LSC Post-Season Tournament was the 2005-06 season when they finished 12-15.
West Texas A&M dominated the Wildcats from the outset on Wednesday, outscoring them 52-26 in the paint, out-rebounding them 48-32, forcing 23 turnovers and holding them to 34.4 percent shooting from the floor (21 of 61).
ACU trailed by double digits for most of the night with its only real threat coming late in the first half when a 7-1 run cut a 31-20 deficit to 32-27 with 4:31 to play. But the Lady Buffs finished the first half on an 8-1 run and opened the second half with a 14-5 run over the first 3:34 to take a commanding 54-33 lead.
ACU sophomore guard Mack Lankford – the LSC's leading scorer at 19.9 ppg – finished with a team-high 16 points, but she was just 4 of 17 from the floor. Sophomore forward
Renata Marquez had 14 points and six rebounds, while freshman post
Paige Parliament had 10 points and three rebounds. ACU junior post
Kelsey Smith picked up two fouls in the first six minutes of the game and didn't play the rest of the night, finishing scoreless.
