Feb. 6, 2010

Natchitoches, LA - It was a team effort that led UT Arlington to an 86-82 win over Northwestern State Saturday afternoon at the Prather Coliseum. The Mavericks improved to 9-12 overall and 4-4 in league action.

After starting off the first half with four consecutive turnovers, UT Arlington took care of the ball and committed only six the rest of the half. The Mavs finished the first half shooting 47.1 percent from the floor and Kiarra Shofner led the team with 13 points.

Shofner gave the Mavs their first lead of the game with a pair of freebies and Tamara Simmons put UT Arlington up by two after a pull up jumper from the elbow at the 8:10 mark.

The Mavericks silenced the Lady Demons, going on a 16-5 run to lead 37-25 with 1:10 left in the first stanza. Nicole Terral send the Mavs into the locker rooms with a 40-28 advantage after knocking down a three with 34 seconds on the clock.

UTA maintained a 10 point lead in the opening minutes of the second half until Lyndzee Greene hit from three-point range, cutting the deficit to seven with 14:22 left to play.

With Meghan Nelson and Shalyn Martin sitting on the bench with foul trouble, Shofner and Simmons went to work bringing the Mavericks back on top by 11. In the final 2:43 of the game, Northwestern State went on a 12-6 run to come within three with 17 seconds left to play.

The Lady Demons were forced to foul the Mavericks and UTA was able to close out the game, knocking down their free throws.

Shofner finished the game with a game high 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, including 1-of-3 from behind the arc and 10-of-12 from the line. Despite foul trouble Nelson poured in 21 points, 19 of those points coming in the second half.

UT Arlington will be at Texas Hall for the next two games when they face McNeese State on Wednesday, February 10 at 7 p.m. followed by a meeting with UTSA Saturday at 2 p.m.