Basketball Ready for Conference Play

With the start of Lone Star Conference Division play less than a week away the ACU men’s and women’s hoops squads look to answer a lot of questions. The men enter the final week of crossover play winners of their last three and five of their last six, while the women have rebounded from a slow start to post three wins in their last five.

For the men who are 7-3 on the season enters the grueling portion of their schedule which happens to start LSC South Division play. The LSC South has two teams ranked in the top 25 while another two are receiving votes.

Incarnate Word is undefeated at 11-0 and No. 9 while Midwestern State is No. 21 and has won 11 after a season opening loss to Fort Hays State. West Texas A&M and Tarleton State are both receiving votes after falling out of the top 25 while each team ranks near the top in the nation in several team categories.

For the women the top two spots in the South Division look secure with Tarleton State and three-time defending champ West Texas A&M holding strong. The TexAnns are 9-1 and will come to Abilene on Tuesday as they currently riding a five game win streak. The Lady Buffs have put together one of the toughest schedules in the country dropping their last three games to top 10 teams including a road loss at No. 1 Delta State. ACU will hook up with WT in two weeks in their first matchup of the season in Canyon.

ACU is 3-7 have shown improvement after a 0-5 start to the season. A trio of young exciting players fills the Wildcats lineup which might be foreign to fans who have watched ACU’s low posts dominate the past couple of years. Transfer Kelsey Smith is averaging 13.1 points from her spot on the blocks, but freshman guard Mack Lankford has led the Wildcats in scoring with 17.8 points per game. Lankford has turned into an exciting player to watch and has scored 20 plus points in her last three games including a team high 35 in an overtime loss to Southeastern Oklahoma the Wildcats’ last time out.

The Wildcats return to the hardwood at Moody Coliseum Tuesday, Jan. 11, when they host Tarleton State in a men’s and women’s doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m.