Jan. 5, 2006
Box Score
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Terra Wallace scored 19 of her game-high 26 points in the first half as Texas-Arlington outscored Northwestern State 32-9 in the final 13 minutes of the game to turn a one-point deficit into a 71-49 victory Thursday evening at Prather Coliseum.
The victory was just the fourth road victory in 23 attempts in the series and the first road victory over the Lady Demons since Jan. 25, 1997.
"It was two totally different halves," said head coach Donna Capps. "We came out really flat in the first half and weren't playing our aggressive defense and weren't controlling the boards. We then realized the seriousness of the situation and had a superb second half and we got effort from everyone. We started blocking out and rebounding with authority and settled into our shots. It was a totally different second half."
With the team trailing 40-39, the Mavs turned up the intensity on both ends of the floor. Ashley Bobb gave UTA the lead for good with a three-pointer from the top of the key and Maryann Abanobi and Melanie Lane followed with back-to-back baskets.
After a Lady Demon basket trimmed the lead back to four, UTA went to the long ball as Jamie Buxkemper hit two straight three-pointers, followed by triples Abanobi, Wallace and Abanobi again. Mixed into the run was a basket from Lane inside and six points from Wallace. All-in-all, the Mavs run helped turn the four-point advantage into a 13-point advantage.
During that same stretch, UTA hit five straight three-pointers and eight straight field goals overall. In the second half, the Mavs were 14-for-26 (.538) from the field and 7-for-8 (.875) from long distance. For the game, UTA went 26-of-60 (.433) from the floor and 10-of-16 (.625) from distance.
UTA (7-5, 1-0) got the offense got immediately as Wallace started the scoring with a driving left-handed layup and followed with a baseline jumper and a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Mavs ahead 7-0 just 1:35 into the contest.
After a basket inside from Ashley Bobb and old-fashioned three-point play from Maryann Abanobi, put the Mavs ahead 12-2, the Lady Demons responded by scoring the next seven points to trim the deficit to 12-9 at the 15:17 mark.
The two teams would exchange baskets before Tojjinay Thompson hit a triple out of the corner to extended the lead back to five.
NSU (7-5, 0-1) would gain its first lead of the game at the 7:50 mark as Shonte Kennedy scored four straight points to make the score 21-20.
Following a three-point play from Wallace, the Lady Demons would score the next nine points to take a 30-23 advantage with 4:23 left on the first half clock. Chassidy Jones led the run by scoring six straight points, including a four-point play in which she made a layup off a steal and converted both free throws of the intentional foul.
The final three minutes of the first half ended the same as they started with Wallace scoring the final seven points to send the teams into the locker room tied 30-30.
Wallace led all players with 26 points and added seven rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and two steals. She was joined in double figures by Bobb and Abanobi with 12 points apiece. Bell led the Lady Demons with 13 points and Jones added 12. Shenise Milliner pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Mavs return to action on Jan. 9 as they host Louisiana-Monroe in the Southland Conference home opener at 7 p.m. at Texas Hall.
