March 4, 2005
Box Score
ARLINGTON, Texas - The stage was set for a fond send-off for four Texas-Arlington seniors as a victory over Nicholls State would give the Mavs their first ever Southland Conference regular season title in school history.
After Krystal Buchanan, Tamesha Graves, Rola Ogunoye and Tabitha Wesley were honored, UTA made quick work of the Lady Colonels as they cruised to a 75-30 victory Friday evening at Texas Hall. The 45-point victory ties for the ninth largest margin of victory in school history and also ties the largest margin of victory by this year's senior class.
The Mavs finished the regular season with an overall record of 18-9 and a 13-3 mark in the SLC. The 13 wins ties the school-record set during the 2002-03 when they played 20 conference games.
UTA raced out of the blocks and by the 12:20 mark found themselves ahead 19-1. The seniors got the rout going as Wesley knocked down a three-pointer and Ogunoye hit two straight field goals. Ogunoye's second field goal at the 16:45 mark moved her past Carolyn Smith for second place on the school's all-time scoring list.
The Mavs never let the Lady Colonels get settled down as UTA continued with the strong defensive pressure and took a 41-12 lead into intermission.
The second half was much of the same as UTA started the half with a 12-1 run to open up a 40-point lead at 53-13 on the Terra Wallace layup. Freshman Tamara Vaughn got into the act and knocked down a trifecta to give UTA its largest lead of the game at 51 points, 71-20. Fellow freshman Alesheia White would close out the scoring for UTA with a layup before NICH would trim the final deficit to 45-points on a three-pointer at the buzzer by Kim Kelson.
Tonight's game was all about the seniors and the quartet responded by combining for 30 points, 19 rebounds, nine assists and eight steals in the victory.
Ogunoye led the way with a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and also added two assists and two steals. Wesley added eight points on 2-for-5 shooting from behind the arc, and added two rebounds, two assists and four steals.
Graves connected on both of her three-point attempts and finished the game with six points, five rebounds and one assist. Buchanan came off the bench with two points, one rebound, four assists and two steals in just 12 minutes of action.
The Mavs will open up SLC Tournament action on Monday, March 7, when they take on Stephen F. Austin. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Texas Hall.
