ABILENE — Niaga Mitchell-Cole scored a career-best 23 points against Abilene Christian Saturday afternoon but wasn’t enough against hot shooting Abilene Christian as the Roadrunners fell 79-60 at Moody Coliseum.
Mitchell-Cole went 8-for-14 from the field against the Wildcats, including 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc and 4-of-6 from the line. On the glass, she grabbed seven boards and added four steals and a block.
Also reaching double-figures for UTSA (0-2) was sophomore Crystal Chidomere with 12 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field.
Abilene Christian (2-1) had four of its five starters reach double figures with Sydney Shelstead and Alexis Mason net 20 points apiece.
The Wildcats were hot out of the gate and jumped to a 7-0 lead before Mitchell-Cole put UTSA on the board with a layup at the 7:22 mark in the first quarter. The Roadrunners tied the game at 16 with 55 ticks in the first on Kasia Kiejdrowska’s 3-pointer but ACU ended the quarter leading 18-16 on a pair of Shelstead free throws.
Late in the second quarter, the Wildcats held a double-figure lead and headed into halftime with a 38-28 advantage.
UTSA struggled to make up the deficit and got cold late in the fourth quarter as ACU led by 20 with 59 seconds remaining. Tesha Smith nailed a free throw with 46 seconds on the clock and was the last basket for either team.
The Roadrunners will return to the Alamo City for its home opener against Illinois State in the annual Thanksgiving Classic set for Nov. 27 and 29. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.