Feb. 26, 2004
Box Score
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Northwestern State outscored Texas-Arlington 11-2 in the first 3:26 of overtime as the Lady Demons claimed at least a share of the 2004 Southland Conference regular season crown with a 77-69 win over UTA in front of a regional television audience here Thursday.
Northwestern State (19-5, 12-1). UTA falls to 15-11 overall and remains in third place in the SLC at 9-5.
UTA was led by Rola Ogunoye who scored all 16 points after half. LaToya Lewis canned five first-half 3-pointers for 15 points and Terra Wallace added 14. NSU's Amanda Bennett scored 19 first half points on her way to a career-high 28. LaTerrica Dobin dropped in 22 and Diamond Cosby added 17.
Northwestern State never trailed in overtime as Bennett canned a jumper to take a 61-59 lead. The lead swelled to 68-61 after a Dobin three-point play with 2:07 left in overtime. Ashley Sparkman followed a Dobin miss to build a 70-61 edge with 1:34 to play and seal the win.
UTA's Terra Wallace canned a 3-pointer in the corner to tie the game at 59-59 with 28 second to play in regulation and force overtime as Dobin could not get a shot off as time expired.
Trailing 45-34, UTA went on a 19-7 run over an 8:48 period to claim its first lead of the second half, 53-52, on a Johnson jumper in the paint with 3:58 to play in the game. Three free throws by Wallace stretched the lead to 56-52.
Northwestern State went on a 22-2 run over an 11:14 stretch midway through the game erased a 30-23 UTA lead and gave NSU a 45-34 edge after a Cosby bucket with 12:39 to play. Tamesha Graves scored five straight points to cut the lead to 46-40 with 12:08 to play.
UTA started both halves slow - 1-of-10 in the first half and 1-of-11 in the second half. Northwestern State took an early 11-4 lead after a Bennett 3-pointer with 12:57 to play. But the Lady Mavs caught fire from the outside, hitting five 3-pointers over the next 5:00 to take a 21-16 lead after a 3-pointer by Buchanan with 8:01 to play in the first half.
Northwestern State scored the final nine points of the first half to take a 32-30 lead at halftime. UTA made a season-high eight 3-pointers in the first half - five by Lewis, two by Buchanan and one from Wallace - to stay close. The Lady Mavs matched a season-high with 11 3-pointers made.
NOTES: UTA has made a 3-pointer in 70 straight games... Bennett's 28 points was the most allowed by UTA this season.
Northwestern State 73, Texas-Arlington 69 Texas-Arlington (15-11, 9-5) - Buchanan 2-7 0-0 6, Lewis 5-18 0-0 15, Lane 1-4 0-0 2, Thompson 0-6 0-2 0, Ogunoye 5-10 4-4 14, Graves 2-3 1-1 6, Johnson 4-8 0-3 8, Wesley 0-0 0-0 0, Wallace 3-9 5-7 14. Totals: 24-68 10-17 69.
Northwestern State (19-5, 12-1) - Dobin 8-14 6-10 22, Cosby 6-16 2-4 17, Sparkman 2-2 0-0 4, Swanigan 0-1 0-0 0, Bennett 10-21 4-7 28, Tallant 0-0 0-0 0, Favors 0-0 0-0 0, Perry 1-1 0-0 0, Jones 1-6 0-0 2. Totals: 28-61 14-23 77.
Halftime: NSU 32, UTA 30. Three-point field goals: UTA 11-32 (Lewis 5-15, Wallace 3-5, Buchanan 2-7, Graves 1-3, Thompson 0-2), NSU 7-21 (Bennett 4-12, Cosby 3-9). Rebounds: UTA 45 (Johnson 10), NSU 39 (Dobin 8). Assists: UTA 20 (Buchanan 7), NSU 15 (Dobin 12). Turnovers: UTA 20 (Ogunoye 5), NSU 16 (Dobin 9). Blocks: UTA 0, NSU 4 (Sparkman 3). Steals: UTA 7 (Buchanan 3), NSU 8 (Dobin 3). Total fouls: UTA 18, NSU 16. Technical fouls: None. Att.: 1,945.
