Nov. 17, 2009

Houston 78 UTA 74 Box Score

By Josh Bowe for utamavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas - It's funny how fortune follows a team. The Mavericks experienced the best and the worst of lady luck in one play Tuesday night, the biggest play of the game.

With UT Arlington down 75-73 and only 22 seconds left to play, Houston forward Courtney Taylor had already missed her first free throw, and UTA needed one more miss.

The Mavericks got the miss, but not the rebound. Taylor collected her own miss, went back to the line and the Cougars iced the game away. It was a play that really summed up the 78-74 loss at Texas Hall, the Mavs first of the season.

"I thought we boxed out," freshman forward Donna Dike said. "Its just that extra hustle play that we didn't follow through on."

Dike had a career high 18 rebounds, but for the Mavericks, one more would of helped. The ball bounced on the rim a couple of times as the Mavericks mistimed their jumps. Taylor easily swooped in and collected the missed shot.

"A two point game, and we don't block out on a free throw," coach Samantha Morrow said. "It's kind of the way the night was."

And it wasn't the prettiest of nights for the Mavs. UTA shot 41.4 percent from the field and only 54.2 percent from the free throw line. The Maverick offense looked sluggish, especially in the second half.

"We were a little scrambled," Morrow said. "I'm not going to blame that all on them. Maybe we need to run a few more sets for them."

It looked like the Mavericks were ready to run away in the first half however. Getting out on the break and scoring easy transition buckets, the Mavs ran circle around the Cougars to a 22-12 lead.

But foul trouble forced Morrow to switch to her zone defense earlier than expected and the fast break dried up. So did the overall offense as Houston went on a 20-7 run, capped of by junior Cougar guard Brittney Scott's three pointer at the buzzer. Houston's lead was 32-29 at halftime.

"Defensively we had to run our zone a little but more than we wanted to," Morrow said. "Early on we we're outrunning them down the court but they made the adjustment."

A big adjustment the Mavericks couldn't make was the defense on Scott for the rest of the game. After the buzzer beater at the end of the first half, Scott drilled four more threes in the second half to keep UTA at bay as she finished with a game high 27 points.

Senior guard Meghan Nelson was the primary defender on Scott, but Nelson's foul trouble only let her play 22 minutes.

"She's a very good player and it didn't help Meghan got in foul trouble and it didn't help us having to go to a zone," Morrow said. "That's who we really wanted to put on her."

Scott's back to back threes late in the second half gave Houston a 66-61 lead, just when UTA was starting to gain momentum. The Mavs never got that momentum back. Junior guard Tamara Simmons tried her best though, finishing with a team high 19 points.

Simmons had her own personal duel with Scott in the second half. 14 of Simmon's 19 came in the second half as she carried the load while the rest of the Mavericks struggled from the field.

"I just felt like the girl that was guarding me, I could attack her," Simmons said. "I felt like if we needed to get points I needed to be smart on offense and use my speed to take her off the dribble."

It just wasn't the smartest game Morrow said. Luckily it's early, and Morrow knows there is time to fix the mistakes.

"We have to be a lot more disciplined and be smarter basketball players than we were tonight."