Women's Basketball 12/30/2014 12:00:00 AM

WBB: Williams leads UTA to win in SBC opener

Dec. 30, 2014

By Michael Eldridge | UTAMavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas - A career-high 19 points from senior Chaun Williams helped UT Arlington win its Sun Belt Conference opener, 64-52, against Georgia Southern on Tuesday at College Park Center.

The Lady Mavericks (7-3, 1-0) won their fourth consecutive game had three score in double digits. UTA used a late rally to help pull away from the Eagles (3-7, 0-1). The Lady Mavericks turned the Eagles over on four consecutive possessions to break a 45-45-tie with under eight minutes to go, outscoring Georgia Southern 19-7 to close the game out.

"It was a great win for our program to start conference play off," UT Arlington coach Gerlich said. "We wanted to start off with a 'W' and it was hard fought. We had some people that stepped up and shot the ball well late. We had a lot of bright spots and a lot to build on for the future."

Joining Williams with double-digit points, LaShanda Green scored 11 and Amara Wainwright had 10. On the defensive end, UTA forced the Eagles into 19 turnovers overall and freshman Rebekah Van Dijk was a force inside. Van Dijk picked up a game-high 14 rebounds, 10 coming on the defensive end to go with her eight points.

The Lady Mavericks continue SBC action on Saturday as they welcome South Alabama to College Park Center at 5 p.m.

A back-and-forth opening half left the Lady Mavs with a four-point advantage at halftime. Georgia Southern opened the game on a 7-0 run as UTA's offense struggled to the bucket early. However, it would be all UTA for the next 10 minutes with UTA going on run to send UTA to a double-digit lead. Williams knocked down two of her three 3-pointers overall in the half and led all scorers with 10 points. UTA went into the break up 29-25.

UTA's bench was a spark for the second half and Wainwright knocked down an early shot from beyond the arc to respond from the early run by the Eagles.

Williams and Wainwright combined for 14 of UTA's 35 points in the second and the Lady Mavs' bench held a 21-8 advantage in the half, 42-11 overall.

"We were all in rhythm and moving the ball," Williams said. "At one point in time we were all trying to do it by ourselves and then we came together and were passing it as a team and we made it happen."

UTA, entering the game with the fourth-ranked scoring defense in the nation, held the Eagles to just 34.5 shooting.

Notables: UTA improved to 5-1 at College Park Center. UTA has not had a winning home record since the 2009-10 season... UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich improved to 6-2 in her career in conference openers, 1-1 at the helm of the Lady Mavs... Rebekah Van Dijk's 14 rebounds was her eighth game of the season with double-digit rebounding.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Chaun Williams: Guard; 5' 8"; Senior; 3L

#13 LaShanda Green: Point Guard; 5' 7"; Junior; 1L

#24 Amara Wainwright: Guard; 5' 7"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#12 Chaun Williams
: 5' 8"; Senior; 3L
: Guard

#13 LaShanda Green
: 5' 7"; Junior; 1L
: Point Guard

#24 Amara Wainwright
: 5' 7"; Junior
: Guard

Players Mentioned

#12 Chaun Williams

#13 LaShanda Green

#24 Amara Wainwright

Players Mentioned

#12 Chaun Williams

#13 LaShanda Green

#24 Amara Wainwright