Feb. 12, 2004

Box Score

LAKE CHARLES, La. - Texas-Arlington scored the first 14 points of the game and never trailed as they held off a late rally from McNeese State to defeat the Cowgirls 63-55 in a Southland Conference game at Burton Coliseum Thursday night.

The win was UTA's (13-9, 7-3) fourth in five games while McNeese State falls to 5-15 and 3-6.

Senior guard LaToya Lewis connected on 4-of-8 3-pointers for a team-high 16 points. Junior forward Rola Ogunoye scored 14 and junior guard Krystal Buchanan added 10. McNeese State was led by sophomore Regina Spivey with 21 and Clarissa Clark with 10.

After trailing by as many as 14, McNeese State cut the lead to one, 42-41, after a Spivey 3-pointer with 12:00 to play. UTA strecthed the lead back out to to many as nine, 50-41, after a Buchanan basket with 5:22 to play. A Spivey layup and two free throws trimmed the lead to 56-51, but could get no closer as Lewis, who scored 13 second-half points, canned a 3-pointer and a layup in the final two minutes for the win.

UTA canned 8-of-14 3-pointers in the game and set a new single-season record with 141 made.

The first half was one of streaks as UTA led 32-28 at halftime.

UTA led 14-0 after a Lewis 3-pointer with 13:32 to play in the first half. But McNeese State responded with a 14-2 run to trim the lead to 16-14 after a Sheronda Bowers 3-pointer with 8:32 to play in the first half. UTA countered with the next 10 points for a 26-14 lead after a Sheena Johnson free throw with 4:36 to play. Trailing 32-19, McNeese State scored the final nine points of the half thanks to five straight points by Spivey, a basket by Rebecca Morales and a jumper by Clark with :03 to play.

NOTES: UTA made a 3-pointer for the 66th consecutive game... Ogunoye scored in double figures for the 15th straight game. UTA 63, McNeese State 55 UTA (13-9, 7-3) - Buchanan 2-6 4-4 10, Lewis 6-14 0-0 16, Lane 1-3 0-1 2, Thompson 2-5 0-0 4, Ogunoye 6-8 2-2 14, Graves 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 3-4 2-3 8, Wesley 0-1 0-0 0, Wallace 2-7 2-2 8, Rumph 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 22-49 11-14 63.

McNeese State (5-15, 3-7) - Clark 4-10 0-0 10, Cummins 1-4 0-0 3, Abdur-Hadi 2-4 0-0 4, Williams 0-3 0-0 0, Stewart 3-4 0-4 6, Spivey 7-16 5-6 21, Morales 1-3 0-0 2, Kennedy 0-1 0-0 0, LeBlanc 1-2 0-0 2, Morrell 0-0 2-2 2, Bowers 2-3 0-0 5. Totals: 21-50 7-12 55.

Halftime: UTA 32, MU 28. Three-point field goals: UTA 8-19 (Lewis 4-8, Buchanan 2-5, Wallace 2-5, Thompson 0-1), MU 6-17 (Clark 2-4, Spivey 2-4, Bowers 1-1, Cummins 1-4, Kennedy 0-1, Abdur-Hadi 0-1, Morales 0-2). Rebounds: UTA 35 (Ogunoye 8), MU 28 (Spivey 7). Assists: UTA 12 (Wallace, Lane 3), MU 12 (Morales 5). Turnovers: UTA 27 (Buchanan 7), MU 29 (C lark 6). Blocks: UTA 2 (Lane 2), MU 2 (Spivey 2). Steals: UTA 15 (Wallace, Buchanan 4). Total fouls: UTA 17, MU 20. Fouled out: Morales. Techn ical fouls: None. Att. 250.