Dec. 29, 2012
By Melissa Cebold | UTAMavs.com
Final Stats
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - UT Arlington opened WAC play with a 62-59 win against New Mexico State on Saturday night.
"We did a much better job rebounding," UT Arlington coach Samantha Morrow said. "We had total focus. We got down early and we just fought back hard."
Desherra Nwanguma picked up her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Laila Suleiman led the Mavericks with 13 points and Aron Garcia grabbed 11 rebounds for UTA.
Morrow has seen some consistency in Nwanguma over the last few games.
"She's focused, she knows that we need her and she is being dedicated to her teammates right now," Morrow said.
The Mavericks (3-8, 1-0) turned the ball over the first possession of the game and Abby Scott of New Mexico State scored the first points for either team.
Nwanguma scored the first four points for the Mavericks before Rosalyn Thorpe knocked down a bucket.
A 3-pointer from Eboni Watkins put the Mavericks within five of the Aggies, but NMSU scored a bucket to pull away with a larger lead.
The Mavericks fouled at the buzzer allowing New Mexico State to go 3-for-3 from the free throw line before heading to the locker room.
Kiara Parker led the team with five points. including a 3-point play after a contested shot, at halftime. Garcia grabbed six rebounds while shooting only 1-5 from the field.
UTA started the second half with a 12-3 run after another 3-point play from Parker giving the Mavs their first lead of the game.
A pair of free throws for the Aggies tied the game at 33 before Nwanguma grabbed another 3-point play for the Mavericks.
Back-to-back layups from a pair of guards for the Mavericks gave them their largest lead of the game leading the Aggies 43-37 forcing an NMSU timeout. Green came out of the timeout with a 3-pointer, extending the lead to nine.
NMSU (6-5, 0-1) came within one point, but a pair of free throws from Suleiman gave the Mavs a 3-point lead.
The Mavericks continued to fight and played tough defense to lock down their first conference win of the season.
Scott led the Aggies with 18 points, while Stefanie Gilbreath and Danesia Williamson combined for 30 of the Aggies 59 points.
The UT Arlington Mavericks head to Denver, Colo. to take on University of Denver Pioneers Monday, Dec. 31 at 3 p.m. CST.
