March 5, 2014

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

TROY, Alabama - UT Arlington fell behind early and couldn't recover in Wednesday night's 88-72 setback to Troy at Trojan Arena.

The Mavericks dropped to 4-24 overall and 3-14 in the Sun Belt Conference. UTA concludes the regular season Saturday at South Alabama. Tip is set for 5 p.m.

The Trojans (12-16, 8-9) swept the two-game series with UT Arlington. Troy guard Joanna Harden, the fifth-leading scorer in the country, topped all players with 24 points.

The Mavericks committed 32 turnovers, leading to 24 points for Troy. UTA did out-shoot and out-rebound the Trojans, but the lost possessions were too much to overcome.

"They made us play their game and they like to play fast," UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich said. "We didn't do a good job of slowing it down and taking care of the ball offensively. Turnovers have been our Achilles all year and it wasn't any different tonight."

Senior forward Briana Walker led the Mavericks with 22 points off the bench, to go along with 11 rebounds. Senior center Desherra Nwanguma had 14 points and 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double. Freshman forward Allyson Te'o finished with 10 points and eight boards.

Te'o was active on the boards early, particularly at the offensive end. The Trojans called an early timeout after an offensive put-back by the freshman forward.

Troy began to separate after the first media timeout, taking a 24-12 lead eight minutes into the contest. The Mavericks cut the deficit to seven points (31-24) after a basket from Walker.

Troy responded with a 3-point driven surge to take a 42-31 into halftime. The Mavericks enjoyed a sizable 31-20 rebounding advantage at the break, but were hurt by 18 turnovers and 36-percent shooting.

Walker had 12 points and six rebounds at the half, with Nwanguma adding eight points and seven boards. Te'o had six points and six rebounds.

Troy extended its lead to start the second half and wasn't threatened down the stretch.