Kats to host ACU in SLC opener
1/3/2019 3:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Game 11
Saturday, Jan. 5 • Huntsville • 3:00 p.m. • Johnson Coliseum (6,100)
Sam Houston State (5-5, 0-0 Southland) vs Abilene Christian (8-4, 1-0 Southland)
Live Stats • BSN YouTube • @BearkatsWBB on Twitter • Purchase Tickets
HUNTSVILLE – With a successful non-conference schedule out of the way, the Sam Houston State Bearkat women's basketball team will now turn its focus to Southland Conference play when it kicks off its league schedule on Saturday afternoon against Abilene Christian.
The game is set to tip off at 3:00 p.m. at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum and can be watched on the Bearkat Sports Network YouTube channel with Matt Trent on the call. Fans can follow along via live stats, or get updates by following @BearkatsWBB on Twitter.
The Bearkats are coming off a 5-5 pre-conference showing and will enter league play with a record of .500 or better for the first time since the 1995-96 season. The team currently ranks second among all SLC schools with an average of 73.5 points per game and leads the league with a .439 field-goal percentage.
Jaylonn Walker is coming off a 25-point effort vs TCU to close out non-conference play and ranks fourth in the SLC, averaging 15.8 points per game. She is joined by junior Jenniffer Oramas (12.4 ppg) and freshman Amber Leggett (10.3 ppg) in double figures as the team seeks to become the first Bearkat squad since 2010-11 to have three players average double figures in the same season.
They will be facing an ACU squad who opened up SLC play on Wednesday with a 59-52 victory over New Orleans. That victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Wildcats after consecutive losses to Arkansas, Florida Gulf Coast and Texas Tech closed out non-conference play.
The Wildcats are led by Dominique Golightly's 12.7 points per game, while Breanna Wright is averaging 12.5 points and a team-best 4.7 assists per game. Sara Williamson is also averaging 11.3 points and 4.1 assists per contest, while Rice transfer Lexie Ducat has given ACU a presence in the middle with 9.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
SERIES vs ABILENE CHRISTIAN
Sam Houston will go into Saturday's game looking for its first win over the Wildcats since the 2014-15 season. ACU has won 14 of 19 all-time meetings, including seven in a row dating back to that 63-58 Bearkat win in Abilene in 2015. The Kats nearly ended the streak in last season's second meeting when SHSU held the lead in the game's final minute before two free throws from ACU's Brenna Wright provided the winning margin.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- Lydia Baxter's 16-point, 14-rebound performance on Friday vs ORU was her third straight double-double of the season, and pushed her into the all-time top 10 in career rebounds at SHSU. She followed that up by pulling in seven more rebounds at TCU to give her 505 for her career and become just the ninth player in SHSU history to accumulate 500 rebounds.
- SHSU will be looking to open up Southland Conference play with a victory for the first time since the 2015-16 season when it defeated Incarnate Word in San Antonio by a 65-60 margin.
TAKEAWAYS FROM 72-59 LOSS AT TCU
- Jaylonn Walker was the story of the game for the Bearkats, setting a career high with 25 points against the Horned Frogs, surpassing her previous high of 23 points against Southern Miss. The junior transfer from McLennan CC had just eight points in the season opener at LSU, but since then has had no less than 13 points in any game.
- Walker's game was marked by a red-hot night from behind the 3-point arc, where she canned a season-high five of her nine tries. The five made 3-point baskets were the most by a Bearkat in a single game since Shernise Robertson had five treys against Nicholls on March 10, 2016. Walker is hitting a solid 31.1 percent from 3-point range this year, but is shooting 43.8 percent (14/32) from distance in her last five games.
- Despite out-rebounding TCU by a 34-31 margin and forcing 22 turnovers, the Kats were hampered by 27 turnovers of their own for the game. That is the most times the Kats have turned the ball over this season and was the seventh time this season they have posted 20 or more turnovers.
