Sam Houston State women’s basketball was not able to take both games in their series with Abilene Christian this Southland Conference season.
The Bearkats fell 63-48 to ACU on Thursday at Johnson Coliseum.
The Kats’ defense came out strong against the Wildcats and dominated the defensive glass early on in the game. ACU’s star Sydney Shelsted struggled at the beginning The Kats post limited her to four first half points and only eight points on the game.
However, SHSU’s perimeter defense needed to be tighter. ACU hit five three-pointers in the first half. Wildcats’ sophomore guard Alexis Mason led the scoring charge with 20 points on the night.
The Bearkats’ offense came out the gates with a slow start in the first half.
SHSU once again struggled with turnovers against ACU’s zone defense. The Kats had eight turnovers and gave ACU seven points off turnovers in the first half.
Junior guard Shernise Robertson did not step up her leadership until late in the first half when she got her teammates involved. Robertson played a quiet first half with five points overshadowed by a tough seven-point performance overall.
In the second half, the Kats’ offense came out running in transition. Sophomore guard Taylor Dorsey and freshman forward Saundra Guillory helped with the lack of Robertson’s scoring load. Dorsey had 18 points on the night with Guillory ending with 11.
“Taylor Dorsey picked up slack in there,” head coach Brenda Nicholls said. “Saundra Guillory did a good job with a lot of put-backs.”
The Kats lost all their offensive intensity and defensive energy late in the game as SHSU went back to its ways, turning over the ball.
“We just made a lot of turnovers tonight,” Nichols said.
Overall, when SHSU saw opportunities at the basket, the Kats had trouble making shots fall.
“We just didn’t get our feel,” Nichols said. “We couldn’t get into the rhythm.”
The Kats look to shake off this loss in Houston on Saturday against Houston Baptist. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.