March 2, 2011

Final Stats

Arlington, Texas - Photo Gallery

On senior night, Shalyn Martin led the UT Arlington Mavericks with a season-high 24 points against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for a 77-73 win Wednesday at Texas Hall. The win improved the Mavs to 8-19 overall and 5-10 in conference action.

The last time the Mavericks picked up a win at home was on February 12 against Texas State, 79-63.

Prior to the start of the game, Martin, Tamara Simmons and LaNell Taylor were recognized on senior night. The three seniors were honored with framed jerseys at center court.

After three ties in the opening minutes of the first half UTA used a balance offense to jumped out to a nine point advantage at 19-10 with 11:28 on the clock. The Mavs saw their lead diminish in the next seven minutes as the Islanders came within two at 33-31 with 3:03 remaining in the first half.

With 32 seconds left in the half, freshman Desherra Nwanguma connected on a jumper in the paint, giving the Mavericks a four point advantage right before the break. Nwanguma was one of three Mavericks to finish in double-figures. The freshman recorded a season-high 12 points and eight rebounds.

UTA maintained the lead throughout the second half and led by as many as nine at the 14:35 mark for a 48-39 advantage but a determined A&M-Corpus Christi team remained a constant threat. The Islanders made it a two point game at 57-55 with 8:20 left to play following a jumper by Zoey Vega-Vega.

UTA used free throws to go up by nine (68-59) at the 5:19 mark but the Islanders persisted and came within one at 68-67 with 3:25 remaining in the game. With 30 seconds left in the game, Sabreena DeNure connected on a jumper at the top of the key to put UTA on top by four at 75-71. A&M-Corpus Christi was forced to foul the Mavericks and play catch up the rest of the way.

UTA finished the game shooting 40.9 percent from the floor, 20 percent from 3-point range and 65.6 percent from the free throw line.

Martin finished the game shooting 7-of-15 from the field, including 1-of-1 from 3-point range and 9-of-12 from the free throw line. Thirteen of Martin's 24 points came in the second half.

Freshman Briana Walker recorded 10 points and five rebounds while Jasmine Smith grabbed a team high 10 rebounds.

Anitra Jeffery led the Islanders with 19 points and 17 rebounds in 35 minutes of action.

The Mavericks will play their final game of the regular-season on the road on Saturday, March 5 against UTSA. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. in San Antonio, Texas.