UTA Women Lose At Wichita State

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WICHITA, Kan. — UT Arlington went toe-to-toe with two-time defending Missouri Valley Conference champion Wichita State, but a late second half surge by the Shockers handed the Lady Mavericks their first loss of the season.

UTA, falling 71-61 on Saturday at Charles Koch Arena, trailed by just four points at the break, however a 13-point run midway through the final half broke things open for Wichita State. UTA went to 2-1 on the season with the loss, while Wichita State improved to 2-1 overall and 3-1 all-time against the Lady Mavericks.

“We battled really well in the first half and early in the second half,” UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich said. “Our freshman played very well and Cirra Johnson had a great game matched up against their best player. The future is very bright and I think we are further ahead than we thought we would be but we are disappointed because we thought we could of won that game.”

Freshman Rebekah Van Dijk picked up her second-career double-double for UTA in just three games in the program. Van Dijk led with a game-high 16 rebounds and scored 13 points. Johnson was

UTA’s offensive leader, scoring 17. However, it was the Shockers who led overall, Jamillah Bonner scored a game-high 21 and two-time MVC Player of the Year Alex Harden put in 12.

The Lady Mavericks return to action on Wednesday when UTA hosts Northern Arizona at College Park Center at 7 p.m. Tickets are available by going to UTATickets.com .

UTA and Wichita State went back-and-forth throughout the first half with each team making a run to attempt to pull ahead. The Lady Mavs were able to build a brief 25-23 advantage before the Shockers took an 8-point advantage on a 10-2 run.

UTA closed the half strong with a jumper from LaShanda Green and a layup from Cierra Johnson to send the teams into the break with UTA down four.

“We had some crucial turnovers and missed some easy buckets and they capitalized,” Gerlich said. “We have to be able to dig deep and get stops and not let them get on a run like that and take care of the basketball and execute. We have to do that every possession no matter how much they are pressuring us.”

The Lady Mavericks exchanged buckets with the Shockers to start the second half but climbed into a 41-40 lead after Morgan Hunt converted on back-to-back buckets. However, Wichita State would bounce back into the lead and never look back, making a 13-0 run and built a lead that UTA could not overcome.

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