Glendale, Ariz.- Despite early foul trouble, the Lady Firestorm manufactured a 77-70 win over the Goshen College Maple Leafs to begin a crucial three-game homestand. Halle Payne led the offensive haul for ACU with 23 points and added nine rebounds, four being offensive boards. Cynthia Lopez was a  game-changer in her 19 minutes off the bench, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 and producing 14 total points. The pillar for the Firestorm was their current assist leader, Kayla Clark, who dished out 10 assists and committed only one turnover in 37 minutes.

GAME INFO

Score: Arizona Christian 77 | Goshen College (IN) 70
Records: ACU 9-2 (0-0 GSAC) | Goshen College (IN) 8-4 (3-0 CL)
Location: ACU Events Center - Glendale, AZ

STAT TRACKER

Halle Payne - 23 pts, 9 rebs, 1 ast
Cynthia Lopez - 14 pts, 2 rebs, 1 stl
Emily Till - 12 pts, 8 rebs, 1 ast
Alyssa Alvarez - 12 pts, 1 reb, 3 ast
Kayla Clark - 5 pts, 4 rebs, 10 ast

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

After trailing 4-0 in the opening few possessions, the Firestorm fell into rhythm and soon grabbed a 14-10 edge. Buckets from Goshen's Zion Neat and Syanne Mohamed gave them a 15-14 lead before the Firestorm torched the Maple Leafs 13-3 to close the first quarter. Five different players scored in this final scoring run. Alyssa Alvarez led the way with eight points on 3-for-4 shooting and ACU assisted on eight of their 12 made field goals.

The Maple Leaf's top-two scorers, Mohamed and Kiana Oelling, combined for eight points in the early minutes of the second quarter to trim the Firestorm lead to 32-28. Cynthia Lopez bolstered a rather rough offensive period for ACU (5-for-16) by knocking down all three of her three-pointers. Two of Lopez's threes came in the final 90 seconds to preserve a Firestorm halftime lead (40-35).

Out of the break, points were difficult to come by as both teams combined for four points in the first 3:30 of the third stanza. This quarter was defined by missed opportunities, as Goshen only converted four points on nine offensive boards (9-1, Goshen). Halle Payne kept the Firestorm afloat with seven third quarter points and Lopez drained another timely three-pointer with 2:52 on the clock. ACU was able to cling to a 56-52 lead despite a 7-0 run by Goshen to end the quarter.

Lopez sank her final of five three-pointers on the Firestorm's opening possession in the fourth. It ended up providing the cushion ACU needed to force the Maple Leaf's to make it a free-throw contest. The Firestorm won that battle, going 10-for-10 from the stripe, including a 6-for-6 effort from Payne. Taken as a whole product, 8-for-13 three-point and 11-for-12 free-throw performances lifted ACU to a solid 77-70 victory.

THOUGHTS FROM COACH RUSTY ROGERS

"Really proud of the team today," Coach Rogers said. "Much of the game, we were competing with some sort of adversity–mostly foul trouble with some key players. Our ladies weathered the storm and persevered. Tremendous performances by Kayla Clark and Halle Payne. I thought Cynthia Lopez gave us a huge boost as we navigated the foul problems. Great contributions from Emily Till, Sophia Martinez and Alyssa Alvarez, among others. Good team win!" 

NEXT UP FOR THE FIRESTORM

The Firestorm march on in the holiday season, hosting #11-ranked Concordia (NE) on December 19th. Tipoff will come at 1:00 PM from ACU Events Center. Follow the action with live stats at https://acufirestorm.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary and watch at https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian. 
   

Roll Storm!