Sam Houston State women’s basketball looks for another Southland Conference win against Abilene Christian tonight.

The Bearkats head into the game following a 60-53 loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday at home.

“[We have to tighten up] our defense and create more opportunities on the offensive end,” sophomore guard Taylor Dorsey said. “Last game, we didn’t put ourselves in good position to score.”

The Kats won the first meeting against the Wildcats 63-58 in Abilene on Jan. 22. Junior guard Shernise Robertson led the Bearkats with 28 points in that meeting.

The Kats defense has a big task by slowing down the SLC’s third scoring team. ACU’s sophomore forward Sydney Shelsted leads the Wildcats with 12.6 points per game. The Kats post will need to play excellent defense against Shelsted down in the paint. Although ACU does not shoot the ball well from the three-point line, the Kats need to tighten up their perimeter defense.

“We have to play good defense and rebound the ball, because they have good shooters and rebounders,” Dorsey said.

The Kats offense looks to shake off last game’s struggling performance tonight. The Kats need to get their leader guard Shernise Robertson going early in the game. Conversely, Robertson needs to set the tone early and get others involved on the offensive end.

Dorsey will have to help take the scoring load off Robertson’s shoulders. Against TAMU-CC, Dorsey only had eight points. Junior guard Amanda Barnes made her return to the court last Saturday but only played six minutes for two points.

“Everyone has to be ready when they have the opportunity to score,” Dorsey said. “When everyone is scoring, we play better as a unit.”

The Kats need to have good ball movement to get quality shots and limit their turnovers. The opposition has capitalized off the Kats mistakes all year long.

Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m.