Jan. 8, 2005
Box Score
HAMMOND, La. - Sophomore guard Terra Wallace scored a career-high 23 points, five rebounds and three steals to lead three players in double figures as Texas-Arlington defeated Southeastern Louisiana 73-58 in Southland Conference action on Saturday afternoon.
After Nakeya Downing scored the first basket of the game, UTA quickly took the lead as Terra Wallace connected on her first three-pointer just over a minute into the game. A Lady Lions free throw would knot the score for the final time as Wallace hit her second straight shot to push the Mavs ahead for good at 5-3.
UTA (7-6, 2-0 SLC) would continue to keep the offensive pressure on as Rola Ogunoye got going and scored six straight Mavs points to push UTA ahead 17-10 at the 10:31 mark. A Wallace jumper followed by an Ashley Bobb putback and a Tojjinay Thompson jumper pushed the lead to 10 points.
SLU (5-7, 0-2 SLC) would trim the Mavs lead to six points before Krystal Buchanan would nail back-to-back three pointers and Wallace would convert a steal near midcourt into an easy layup to give the team its largest lead of the half at 33-19.
Thompson proved to be a spark off the bench in the first half as she helped keep the lead in double digits with a three-pointer and a pull-up jumper near the end of the half. She would finish the half with nine points. A pair of Buchanan free throws with 4.2 seconds remaining in the half gave UTA a 40-27 lead at recess.
UTA came out shooting to start the second stanza as on the first three possessions Tabitha Wesley knocked in two triples and Ogunoye followed up a miss with a putback of her own to push the lead to 48-27 just 2:15 into the half.
The Lady Lions would use the play of Dacia McGowan to get back in the game as the speedy guard would score 10 of her 15 points in the second half to spark a run that would narrow the gap to 14 points with just under 12 minutes to play.
UTA would answer the run with a basket from Wallace and a driving layup from Buchanan with the shot clock expiring. Wallace would add another basket and Bobb would follow with a putback to quickly push the lead to 60-41 with 8:36 left.
McGowan and Downing would help make another run as the Lady Lions would cut the lead to 10 points before Wesley would knock in her third triple of the half and push the lead back to 13 points.
The Mavs would keep the lead in double digits the remainder of the game on a layup from Melanie Lane and four free throws from Wallace in the final half minute for the 73-58 final score.
Wallace was joined in double figures by Buchanan's season-high 13 points and Ogunoye's 11. Ogunoye had her fourth double-double of the season by pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds. Buchanan handed out a season-best eight assists. McGowan was joined in double figures by Downing's 13 points.
For the game, the Mavs shot 26-for-55 (.473) from the field and connected on 8-of-24 (.333) from behind the arc. UTA outrebounded SLU 40-27 and 18-12 on the offensive end. The Mavs took advantage of their offensive rebounds and turned them into 17 second-chance points. UTA also converted 15 Lady Lions turnovers into 23 points.
UTA returns to action on Jan. 12 as it plays its Southland Conference home opener against defending regular season and tournament champion Northwestern State. Tip-off is set for 5:45 p.m. at Texas Hall and is part of a doubleheader with the UTA men.
