Glendale, Ariz.- The Lady Firestorm emerged from an 11-day break from competition with a gritty 82-67 win over the visiting Benedictine Mesa Redhawks. After an equal bout in the first half (39-37), ACU pulled away with a 20-6 third quarter. Lauren Gunn recorded her third game this season with at least 30 points (35) and Emily Till grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds. With the latest win, the Firestorm move to 4-1 at home.

GAME INFO

Score: Arizona Christian 82 | Benedictine Mesa 67
Records: ACU 6-2 (0-0 GSAC) | Benedictine Mesa 0-4 (0-0 Cal Pac)
Location: ACU Events Center - Glendale, AZ

STAT TRACKER

Lauren Gunn - 35 pts, 1 rebs, 4 ast
Alyssa Alvarez - 24 pts, 1 rebs, 3 ast
Halle Payne - 14 pts, 7 rebs, 3 ast
Emily Till - 4 pts, 20 rebs, 4 ast
Kayla Clark - 2 pts, 3 rebs, 5 ast

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

The Firestorm jumped ahead 9-2 in the early stages of the first quarter, before the Redhawks knotted it up 13-13. A jumper from Alyssa Alvarez at the 1:04 mark assured ACU at 20-18 advantage at the end of the first 10 minutes. Alvarez led the Firestorm with eight points on 4-for-6 shooting and Ben Mesa's Alize Ruiz followed closely with seven points, including one of their two three-pointers.

Like the opening quarter, the Firestorm began the second hot, as Alvarez drained one of her three total three-pointers on their first possession. ACU would not relinquish the lead, but watched a 37-28 edge dwindle to only two points by halftime. The Redhawks' Elise Young sank a three-pointer and closed out a 9-2 scoring run with a mid-range jumper just eight seconds before time expired. Alvarez once again led the Firestorm with eight points.

Ben Mesa was plagued with poor shooting in the third stanza (2-for-16), and ACU took full advantage. Lauren Gunn lit up the Redhawks' defense, amassing 14 points that featured three from three-point range and a perfect 3-for-3 from the free-throw line. Emily Till nearly out-rebounded the opposition, collecting eight in the third quarter alone.

Elise Young and Ben Mesa kept the game competitive in the fourth, Young posting 12 points on 5-for-7 from the field. However, ACU kept distance and did not allow the lead to shrink below 10. Gunn wrapped up her 35-point performance with 11 in the fourth quarter, including five made free throws. Halle Payne was successful on both her field goal attempts, contributing to the Firestorm's most efficient offensive quarter (7-for-14, 50%).

THOUGHTS FROM COACH RUSTY ROGERS

"Real good win for us tonight–with the physicality of play at a high level, our team played through it with mental and physical toughness," Coach Rogers said. "I'm very proud of the character and determination of our squad. Individually, there were some tremendous stat lines across the board, highlighted by Emily Till's 20 rebounds and the offensive performance by Lauren Gunn, Alyssa Alvarez and Halle Payne and overall play from Kayla Clark!"

NEXT UP FOR THE FIRESTORM

The Firestorm have a quick turnaround, hosting Justice College at ACU Events Center on Friday. It will be the first ever varsity matchup between the two schools. Tipoff will be at 7:00 PM. Follow the action with live stats at https://acufirestorm.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary and watch the game at https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian.  
   

Roll Storm!