UTA Women Fall To Texas State

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ARLINGTON, Texas – Texas State overcame a late comeback bid by UT Arlington to edge the Lady Mavericks 60-53 at College Park Center on Monday night in Sun Belt Conference play.

The Lady Mavericks (9-7, 3-4) cut a double-digit deficit into just a four-point Bobcats lead with five minutes remaining, but Texas State rallied late to run past UTA in the in-state rivalry. The win was the Bobcat’s (10-7, 5-3) third consecutive win over the Lady Mavs, and increased their all-time advantage to 36-25 in the series.

“Texas State did a good job of just taking it at us and playing their roles and doing what they do,” UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich said. “I felt like they played with a lot of confidence and intensity to win and I don’t think we matched that all.”

Junior LaShanda Green led the Lady Mavericks with a game-high 15 points in the contest but it was senior Chaun Williams who provided UTA’s spark in the second. Williams scored 14 points in the contest, all coming in the second half.

Williams helped bring what was a double-digit deficit to single digits late in the second as she scored seven of UTA’s nine points during a late run and was 4-for-5 from the free-throw line. Freshman Rebekah Van Dijk finished with a game-high 13 rebounds, but had her two-game double-double streak come to an end with seven points.

UTA hits the road for a short two-game road trip in SBC play. The Lady Mavs travel to ULM on Thursday looking to avenge an early-season defeat from the Warhawks. The trip concludes on Saturday at league-leader UALR.

The Lady Mavericks and Bobcats were hot from beyond the arc in the first half with seven combined 3-pointers converted in the opener. UTA built a five-point advantage early in the first half behind Green’s long shot. The junior hit two of her four overall 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes before the Bobcats would make a run of their own.

Ayriel Johnson connected on back-to-back treys to open a 10-2 run for the Bobcats, building a three-point lead with under a minute to play.

UTA closed the gap and jumped into the lead with a buzzer beater by Amara Wainwright to go into the break up 24-23.

The Bobcats responded to UTA’s late momentum to jump back into the lead, opening up the second with a 14-2 run. The run came from two 3-pointers and cold shooting from the field for UTA. The Lady Mavs opened the half shooting just 20 percent from the field through the first 10 minutes.

“Unfortunately I didn’t see a lot from our defense,” Gerlich said of her team’s start to the second half. “We just didn’t come out with any energy. I was very disheartened by the way we came out to start the second half.”

Williams helped keep the game at just a 10-point advantage as the senior scored five consecutive points for UTA. Williams converted on an and-1 and followed it up with a big rebound, converting on the layup.

Williams continued UTA’s run to cut the Texas State to just four points with less than five minutes to go. However, it was the Bobcats who held on late and scored three consecutive possessions following the Lady Mavs’ short run to thwart a comeback bid.

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