Jan. 12, 2011
Final Stats
Sam Houston State at UT Arlington Photo Gallery
Arlington, Texas - The UT Arlington women's team dropped a 67-53 decision Wednesday night against Sam Houston State at Texas Hall. UTA fell to 4-10 overall and 1-1 in league play.
"I thought Sam Houston played with a lot more intensity, a lot harder than we did and that's why I think they won the basketball game," said head coach Samantha Morrow. It worries me that we didn't do some things that we've really worked on the last couple of days."
UTA's offense struggled in the opening minutes as Sam Houston State jumped out to a 6-0 advantage.
A pair of free throws by Shalyn Martin and Malaika Green brought the Mavs within two (6-4) but it was UTA's turnovers that were persistent. Sam Houston State rolled to a 14-point (24-10) advantage at the 6:42 mark.
The Mavericks managed to cut into the Bearkats lead at 24-34 just before the break.
Both teams finished the half shooting almost identical at 34 percent but the Mavs committed 16 turnovers to the Bearkats 10. Sam Houston State connected on 17 of their 29 first half points from the Mavericks turnovers.
Sparked by senior Tamara Simmons, UTA jumped out to a 6-2 advantage in the early minutes of the second half. Sam Houston State came right back with a 10-0 run to lead by 16 (46-30) with 13:28 remaining.
Simmons and Martin did all they could to bring the Mavericks back, combining for 25 of UTA's 29 second half points.
UT Arlington couldn't stop the Bearkats offense and 27 turnovers didn't add any relief. Three Bearkats finished in double-figures with Chanice Smith leading the attack with 23 points.
"The turnovers were ridiculous. We just didn't take care of the ball and we're not going to beat anyone with those many turnovers," Morrow said.
Simmons finished the game with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the floor, including 2-of-7 from behind the arc and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe in 37 minutes. Martin added 11 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals.
UT Arlington finished the game shooting 39.1 percent from the field, 26.7 percent from 3-point range and 65 percent from the free throw line.
Up next for the Mavericks is a road match up against East Division opponent Lamar. The Cardinals fell to 12-4 overall and 1-1 in league action after a 57-53 setback against McNeese State.
"Lamar is picked to win our conference. They beat Central Arkansas last week and that says a lot about them because UCA is a very good opponent. They got good guard play and Jenna Plumley is looking to be the SLC Player of the Year. It will be tough for us, so we definitely need to have our "A" game to beat them at their place," Morrow said.
