WBB: Abilene Christian Wildcats 2024-25 Team Preview
With a pair of crafty guards returning, can ACU take the next step in fourth year in the WAC?
Since joining the WAC in 2021-22, the Abilene Christian women’s basketball team has had a roller coaster ride year after year.
Take 2024, for instance. There was a highlight win over regular season champion CBU followed by a dominating win over Tarleton.
But, the Wildcats then lost four straight, including a road loss at that same Tarleton team they beat two weeks earlier.
Then a three-game winning streak, followed by a three-game losing streak.
Roller coaster. Get it?
It is a little less of a roller coaster ride when the Wildcats go to WAC Vegas. In fact, ACU has lost its first game of the WAC Tournament in its three trips since making the leap from the Southland Conference in 2021-22.
Will 2024-25 be any different?
Longtime coach Julie Goodenough returns a lot from that team, including two all-WAC selections in Bella Earle and Payton Hull, as ACU looks to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019.
Let’s take a look at the 2024-25 edition of the Wildcats.
Head Coach:
Julie Goodenough (13th Season, At ACU 218-130 overall)
Last Year:
14-16 overall, 10-10 WAC (6th place, lost in first round of WAC tournament against Tarleton)
Key Losses:
Addison Martin (portal-Illinois State)
Aspen Thornton (portal-UT Arlington)
Key Returners:
Bella Earle
Payton Hull
Meredith Mayes
Zoe Jackson
ACU returns a pair of all-WAC selections in Earle (a second team performer) and Hull (all-Newcomer team and Freshman of the Year, preseason first team this year).
There are two big questions for the Wildcats…first who wins the battle to replace Addison Martin in the post? Meredith Mayes proved to be a capable starter over a five game stretch that Martin missed as a result of an ankle injury sustained in the CBU win. Aimee Filippen, a 6’4” freshman, has been solid in the summer and fall according to Goodenough but still has strides to make.
Secondly, how do the Wildcats replace 12 points per game that Aspen Thornton left when she transferred to UT Arlington upon the season’s conclusion?
Earle and Hull will definitely have to pick up some of that load. It’ll be a team effort to pick up the remainder.
Portal Pickups:
Erin Woodson (IUPFW)
Mia Rivers (Texas A&M-Kingsville)
Natalia Chavez (New Mexico)
Breanna Davis (North Texas)
Goodenough’s portal class includes three players with Division 1 experience and a third who played at A&M Kingsville in the Lone Star Conference.
Woodson was a Horizon League all-Freshman Team selection last year, shooting just under 35 percent from 3-point range and averaging nearly 16 minutes a contest.
Rivers came from Division 2 A&M Kingsville where she was the second leading scorer at 10.8 Points Per Game for a Javelina team that went 9-13 in Lone Star Conference play. She also led the team in free throws attempted.
Chavez came from a highly successful University of New Mexico program where she made seven appearances last year, averaging just seven minutes per contest.
Schedule:
ACU will play a solid schedule which includes an opening week trip to FIU along with a home game against WKU as part of the WAC/CUSA scheduling initiative.
The Wildcats will also host former conference foe Stephen F. Austin for their education day game a week later. Last year ACU came out on the wrong end of a double-overtime thriller and then lost a narrow two score game in Nacogdoches to the Ladyjacks.
“It’s going to be weird not having SFA in the conference with us,” Goodenough said. “We needed games and they needed games but it was really important to our administration to keep that series alive with the first year of a home and home agreement.”
They’ll also visit Texas Tech and then make a trip to Florida as part of a post-Thanksgiving tournament hosted by FIU where they’ll play Sacramento State along with Wagner or FIU. Also on the tournament docket is a pre-Christmas trip to Albuquerque for an MTE hosted by the Lobos.
CBU and ACU will completed their season series over a 12 day stretch in mid-January. They also got Utah Tech twice in 16 days and Southern Utah twice in 11 days,
The Wildcats will play five of their final seven games away from Moody Coliseum, finishing regular season play at GCU as the Lopes final regular season opponent in WAC play.
Outlook:
ACU has been among the country’s best offenses in many metrics but can the Wildcats get enough stops to win close games?
They were ranked eighth of 11 in total field goal percentage defense and sixth in 3-point percentage defense a season ago but a really impressive second in rebounding.
With Zoe Jackson running point, as she did for the stretch run a season ago, expect ACU to remain as one of the conference’s upper echelon offenses, especially with their prolific 3-point shooting attack.
Last season was ACU’s first losing campaign since Goodenough’s arrival prior to the 2012-13 season.
In four month’s time do the Wildcats find the consistency on both ends of the floor to get back on a winning track?
Only time will tell. But with a solid core back from last year and nice pieces picked up through the transfer portal as well as their freshman class, the talent is there for ACU.