Phoenix, AZ- The No. 24 Firestorm came out strong against No. 13 Menlo- and despite the second half surge from the Oaks- were able to pull off the 86-75 win.  Senior Courtney Christmas becomes the first in ACU women's basketball history to join the 2,000 point club adding 16 points.  Senior Jada Willingham also had 16 points.

Game Info

• Game score: Arizona Christian - 86, Menlo - 75
• Records: Arizona Christian - 15-6, 8-1 GSAC, Menlo - 14-5, 4-5 GSAC
• NAIA Top 25 Rank: Arizona Christian - 24, Menlo - 13
• Location: Fultz Memorial Gym, Arizona Christian University, Phoenix, AZ

ACU Stats for the Day

• Courtney Christmas - 16 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists
• Jada Willingham - 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4-5 from 3 point range
• Toni Davis - 12 points, 5 rebounds
• Brooke Polite - 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3-3 from 3 point range
• Makayla Enders- 11 points
• Kelsey Miranda - 10 points

Inside the Box Score

• ACU took the lead early on and had an explosive first half, being up by 20 at half time
• Menlo came back with a fiery third quarter scoring 29 points
• With three minutes left in the game, the Oaks were able to cut the lead down to five points
• There were two ties and four lead changes, all of which were in the first quarter
• The ACU bench scored 19 points

Thoughts from Coach Berry

"We played the two best power forwards in the conference today.  They were very good- as always.  There was just no stopping them.  But beyond that we did a fantastic job on perimeter defense, we played well in transition, and we shot the ball very well."

"I think today was another step forward for our team this season. We are continuing to grow and to improve every day, every game."

"It's going to be exciting to see just how good we can become in the coming weeks.  I believe we still have a lot of room to improve.  Congratulations on the first half of an excellent season, let's finish intensely, strong, together."

Up Next

Next weekend the Firestorm travel to Southern California for two conference games against ranked opponents.  On Thursday, the ladies play at No. 10 The Master's at 6:30 pm (Arizona time).