Jan. 10, 2015

Final Stats

By Art Garcia | UTAMavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas - UT Arlington women's basketball battled back from 15 points down Saturday before coming up short in overtime against the Sun Belt Conference leaders. Arkansas State made one last push to upend the Lady Mavericks 80-77 at College Park Center.

"We made adjustments at halftime and our kids dug deep and learned from what we went through yesterday in practice," UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich said. "They are competitors and we know it and they are not going to give up, so I was really proud with how hard they fought."

The Lady Mavericks lost their third consecutive game, dropping to 8-6 overall and 2-3 in league action. The Red Wolves (10-5) remained perfect in Sun Belt play and are tied with UALR atop the SBC standings at 5-0.

UTA freshman center Rebekah Van Dijk recorded her eighth double-double and first since Dec. 17 with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Three other Lady Mavs scored in double figures - guards Tahlia Pope (15), Chaun Williams (14) and LaShanda Green (13).

The Lady Mavericks struggled in the early going falling behind 6-0 before getting back into the game behind Van Dijk. The Mavericks tied the game 9-9 and again at 11-11 before the Red Wolves made another push.

Aundrea Gamble (33 points) took over and Arkansas State got the lead back into double digits. The Wolves held leads of 15 points on two occasions late in the first half and went into halftime up 42-29 behind Gamble's 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

Van Dijk had eight points and five boards at the break. Williams scored six for the Lady Mavericks, who held a 22-14 advantage in points in the paint.

UTA came out determined in the second half and tied the game 49-49 on Pope's breakaway layup, forcing a timeout from Arkansas State at the 10:35 mark. Williams had a chance to give the Lady Mavs the lead, but came up short on a contested following a steal.

Arkansas State responded with 5-0 spurt. Green knocked down a 3-pointer for UTA only to watch the Wolves go up 58-52. The Lady Mavs followed with a game-turning 13-2 run to lead 65-60.

Arkansas State tied it 69-69, sending the game into overtime. The Lady Mavs led twice early in OT before the Red Wolves took the upper hand. Williams' potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds bounced off the rim.

UT Arlington returns to action Thursday on the road at Georgia State in Atlanta.