Dec. 4, 2005
Box Score
EL PASO, Texas - Texas-Arlington guard Terra Wallace scored 17 of her game-high 24 points from the charity stripe as the Mavericks won their second straight road contest, 58-53, over UTEP Sunday afternoon at the Don Haskins Center.
"I just thought the strength of our guards and the unwillingness to give up by Terra, Tojjinay and Maryann and playing that many minutes was awesome," said head coach Donna Capps. "I really think Kristi Dudley made some key rebounds and we just had a good defensive performance."
UTEP (3-3) got a pair of three-pointers from Kasia Krezel in the first 2:55 of the contest to help the Miners stake to a 7-1 lead early. A pair of Wallace free throws and an Erin Dixon three-point play helped pull the Mavs to within one.
The two teams would struggle from the field in the first half and combined to shoot 32 free throws. The Mavs (3-2) connected on 11-of-16 (.688) from the charity stripe and the Miners hit only 9-of-16 (.563). From the field, the Mavs hit only 8-of-25 (.320) compared to just 7-of-25 (.280) from the Miners.
Whitney Thornton would connect on a pair of free throws with 6:08 left to play in the half before the Mavs would go on an 11-2 run to end the half. Wallace would score the first four points and Abanobi would follow with a three-point play as the shot clock was expiring. Ashley Bobb came off the bench to hit a baseline jumper and then convert inside before Charnette Phelps converted on a putback as the first half buzzer sounded to send the teams to recess with the Mavs ahead 29-26.
Bobb would score the first four points of the second half and when Tojjinay Thomspon hit a three, the Mavs had a 38-31 lead at the 13:34 mark. Kristi Dudley would take over the Mavs offense as she connected on three straight baskets, including two straight high-low feeds from Erin Dixon.
The Miners would not go away and when 6-5 post Izabela Piekarska grabbed a rebound off a free throw and put it back, the UTA lead was trimmed to 51-49 at the 4:10 mark.
Another basket from Dudley and a pair of Wallace free throws pushed the advantage back to five points with just under three minutes to play. A pair of Miner free throws and a jumper by Krezel trimmed the deficit back to two points with under a minute to play before Wallace hit three free throws in the final 30 seconds fro the five point victory.
Wallace was joined in double figures by Dudley's career-best 12 points. Thompson and Melanie Lane led the team on the glass with eight rebounds, while Dudley chipped in seven. UTEP was led by Krezel's 18 points and Phelps' 13 rebounds.
The Mavs shot just 15-for-44 (.341) from the field and converted 25-of-39 (.641) from the charity stripe. UTEP hit just 16-of-52 (.308) from the field and 16-of-26 (.615) from the free throw line.
After taking time off for final exams, the Mavs will return to action on Dec. 14 when they travel to take on Cincinnati. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. CST at the Fifth Third Arena.
