MAVERICKS BREEZE PAST MCNEESE STATE 73-47
2/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2009
Lake Charles, LA - The UT Arlington women's basketball team captured their seventh consecutive victory and improved to 8-1 in conference action, when it rolled past McNeese State 73-47 in Lake Charles, LA at the Memorial Civic Center.
After a slow first 12 minutes, UT Arlington got on track with the help of the inside and outside game of senior Candice Champion and sophomore Tamara Simmons. The tandem combined for 28 of the Mavericks 33 first half points.
The Mavs never trailed in the first half and headed into the locker rooms with a 37-33 advantage over the Cowgirls.
The Mavericks finished the first half shooting 42.9 percent from the floor to the Cowgirls 32.4 percent and out-rebounded McNeese State by a 26-14 margin.
Coming out of halftime UTA looked like a completely new team, keeping a good distance between themselves and the Cowgirls. McNeese State came within four points at one point at the 16:04 mark but the Mavericks pulled together to go on a 19-5 run with 5:57 on the clock, making the score 62-42.
UT Arlington continued to add to their run, leading by as many as 29 points with 3:23 left to go. The Cowgirls had no answer for the hot shooting Maverick's team as they dropped their third straight game.
For the game, UT Arlington finished shooting 47.3 percent from the floor, 50 percent from three-point range and 58.3 percent from the charity stripe. The Mavs out-rebounded the Cowgirls by a 55-33 margin but lost the battle in turnovers, committing 16 to McNeese State's 7.
Champion finished with her ninth double-double of the season with 21 points and 10 rebounds and notched her 11th 20-plus point performance. Champion went 6-of-9 from the field, including a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line.
Simmons wasn't far behind, recording 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field, including 5-of-6 from three-point range and dished out three assists.
Shante Perry collected a team high 15 points and Kendra Wells grabbed 11 rebounds for the Cowgirls.
Up next for the Mavericks is a match-up with UTSA on Saturday, February 14 at the Convocation Center in San Antonio, Texas. The game will be televised on the Southland Conference Network, with game time set for 4 p.m.
