Dec. 30, 2009

Houston, Texas - With a gym filled with Maverick fans, UT Arlington felt right at home as they recorded a 77-65 victory over Houston Baptist in Houston, Texas Wednesday night. UT Arlington improved to 5-7 overall while HBU fell to 2-12.

UT Arlington opened their last game of the 2009 season with a 12-2 advantage after Tamara Simmons lit the court up shooting 10 of the Mavs 12 points in the first five minutes of the game.

Meghan Nelson finished with her 12th double digit scoring performance, pouring in a game high 17 points on 8-14 shooting, including 1-of-3 from the free throw line.

Houston Baptist slowly made its way back into the game and came within one after Meghan Green hit from three-point range at the 8:10 mark, making it 21-20.

The Mavericks remained under control and went on an 11-0 run, sparked by a jumper in the paint by Kiarra Shofner, making the score 31-20. HBU came back with an 8-0 run and cut the Mavs lead down to four with 2:47 remaining in the first stanza.

UT Arlington went ahead by eight at half after Shofner hit a three with eight seconds on the clock. UTA finished the first half shooting 50 percent from the field, and out-rebounded the Huskies 24-17.

After two consecutive buckets by the Huskies in the opening minutes of the second half, Shalyn Martin knocked down a three ball at the top of the arc, making the score 43-38. Green brought the Huskies within two at the 14:40 mark until the Mavs went on a 17-0 run.

A pair of Taniqua Hollis free throws cut the deficit to 11 but that was as close as the Huskies would get as UTA continued to pour in the buckets.

The Mavericks finished the game shooting 52.8 percent from the field which is a season best. Martin finished with 13 points while Simmons added 12.

Up next for the Mavericks is a meeting with the Longhorns of Texas on Tuesday, January 5 in Austin, Texas. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m.