Jan. 12, 2005

Box Score

ARLINGTON, Texas - It will not erase the memories of last season's loss in the Southland Conference Tournament championship game, but guard Tabitha Wesley made sure the Texas-Arlington women's basketball team did not leave the court with same results as the senior had a career-evening at Texas Hall with 27 points, six rebounds and four assists as the Mavs walked away with a 75-60 victory over Northwestern State (6-8, 1-2 SLC).

The 5-4 DeSoto, Texas product missed her first two three-point attempts of the game before going on to make five of her next 10 attempts from long range. She would finish the game by going 9-for-17 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line before fouling out in the game's final minutes.

Both teams had no problems scoring in the opening minutes as they went back-and-forth before Wesley's three-pointer with 14:56 left in the first half gave the Mavs a two-point advantage, a lead they would never relinquish. The triple by Wesley was the start of a string that saw Wesley and Ashley Bobb score 14 straight Maverick points in helping to open up a 23-12 advantage at the 11:58 mark.

The Mavs (8-6, 3-0 SLC) were able to maintain their lead as Rola Ogunoye joined the scoring act and scored five straight points to keep the advantage in double figures.

UTA would push its lead to as many as 14 points in the first stanza as Wesley hit yet another jumper off a feed from Terra Wallace. The Mavs did all of their damage in the first half without leading scorer Wallace getting into the act. Wallace did not crack the scoreboard until she hit a pair of free throws with seven seconds left in the half. UTA was poised to take a 13-point lead into recess, but Amanda Bennett had other plans as she hit a running 24-footer as time expired to send the teams to the locker room with UTA ahead 41-31.

The second stanza was just the same as the first as UTA did not allow the lead to dwindle under double digits. Only fittingly, Wesley scored the first points of the half by stealing the ball from NSU point guard Sheronda Bell near midcourt and racing down the court for the break away layup.

Wallace would join the scoring act in the second half as she pushed the lead to 15 points with a three-pointer just under four minutes into the half. Chassidy Jones and Diamond Cosby would help spark a run that trimmed the lead to 11 points, but Krystal Buchanan hit a jumper and Bobb hit a pair of freebies to push the advantage back to 15.

A second triple by Wallace and a great Buchanan feed to a streaking Ogunoye would help UTA regain a 17-point advantage before the Lady Demons would make one final run. Four different players would score for NSU to trim the deficit to 12 points, but that would be as close as they would get.

On the next possession, Buchanan found Wallace wide open on the left wing and she calmly drained the long range bomb. Wesley would hit a pair of free throws and then on the next possession hit a triple with one second showing on the shot clock to push the advantage to 20 points. Wesley would give the Mavs their largest lead of the game just moments later as again she connected on a three-pointer as the shot clock expired before fouling out with 2:55 left in the game.

Wesley led four Mavs in double figures as Bobb added a career-best 16 points and Wallace and Ogunoye each added 11. Bobb recorded her second career double-double with 11 rebounds. Buchanan added eight points and dished out eight assists. Bell led the Lady Demons with 17 points.

For the game, UTA shot 26-for-64 (.406) from the field and went 11-for-29 (.379) from long range. The 11 three-pointers made is a season-high after making 10 against Florida State.

The Mavs return to action on Jan. 15 when they travel to take on McNeese State. Game time is set for 3 p.m. at the Burton Coliseum.