Dec. 1, 2010
Box Score
Arlington, Texas -
Arkansas at UT Arlington Photo Gallery
In the final three minutes of the game, Arkansas proved too much for the UT Arlington Mavericks as they suffered a hard fought loss Wednesday at Texas Hall, 57-54. The loss dropped the Mavs to 2-5 overall while the Razorbacks improved to 8-0.
Despite only one player in double-figures, UT Arlington used a collective effort to almost hand Arkansas their first loss of the season.
"I thought that we played really well at times but again we had lapses against a team that's bigger and stronger," said head coach Samantha Morrow. "We made some silly turnovers at crunch time and hopefully we learn from this."
UT Arlington opened the first half with a 2-3 zone defense as well as a different lineup. Sophomore Sabreena DeNure stepped in for senior LaNell Taylor and took over the point guard position.
"We knew that Arkansas was going to pressure us so we thought that we needed a two guard. I think that it was good, our other players still got lots of minutes. Our lineup can change from day to day depending on our opponent," Morrow said.
Tamara Simmons and Shalyn Martin were kept silent in the first half, connecting on only two points but it was the Mavs defense and limited amount of turnovers (6) that kept the game close.
After three ties and two lead changes, the Mavericks took advantage of several miscues by the Razorbacks and to go on an 11-4 run, taking a 19-11 lead with 9:07 remaining.
Arkansas came right back with back-to-back buckets, cutting into the Mavs lead at 19-15 with 5:53 left in the first half.
Freshman Michelle Rodriguez brought the Mavericks up by seven at 22-15 after hitting from behind the arc. In the final five minutes, the Razorbacks tied the game twice before eventually taking a two point advantage and headed into halftime with 28-26 lead.
Freshman Hailee Rhymes led the Mavs in the first half with nine points and finished with a team high 11 points.
The Mavericks finished the game shooting 28.1 percent (9-of-32) from the field and just 20 percent (2-of-10) from behind the arc.
UT Arlington opened the second half similar to the first half in that there was a missing piece to the Mavericks offense. That missing piece was Martin, who finally came alive at the 10:58 mark after her defense made way for her offensive game to step up.
With zero points, Martin brought the Mavericks back within two at 41-39 following back-to-back layups and a monster block on the other end. The Arlington native finished the night with nine points, six rebounds, four steals and three blocks.
"Shay made some great steals and went down for layups. She really made some things happen on the defensive end which we always say if you play great defense it's going to lead to good things on the other end," added Morrow.
Martin's intense play feed off onto her teammates as Sabreena DeNure, Simmons and Briana Walker gave UT Arlington their first lead (46-45) since the 2:10 mark in the first half.
"My defense always starts my game," said Shalyn Martin. "I know that steals and block shots really gets the team going so if I can do that on the defensive end that's what I'm going to do."
The Razorbacks would come back to tie the game for the eighth time and take the lead with a pair of free throws by Sarah Watkins with 4:28 left to play.
Martin gave the Mavs a one-point lead, 52-51 at the 3:17 mark but Arkansas' C'eira Ricketts carried her team to the win connecting on five of their final six points.
For the game, UTA finished shooting 32.3 percent (20-of-62) from the field, 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from behind the arc and 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from the free throw line.
UT Arlington was outrebounded by a 46-40 margin and the Razorbacks earned 19 points off of the Mavericks 17 turnovers.
The Mavs conclude their four-game home stand Saturday, December 4 when they host Texas-Pan American at 2 p.m.
