SBC Bracket | Final Stats

By Michael Eldridge | @DFWSportsMike

BOONE, N.C. - UT Arlington freshman Cierra Johnson scored a career-high 20 points and the Lady Mavericks locked down No. 5 seed for the Sun Belt Conference Championship with Saturday afternoon's 61-53 win over Appalachian State at Holmes Center.

The Lady Mavericks (17-12, 11-9) finished the regular season with the program's most wins since the 2008-09 season, the first winning conference record since 2009-10 and head into the postseason for the first time under second-year coach Krista Gerlich.

"It is amazing," Gerlich said. "I am so proud of these girls. Maybe even better than the fifth seed is 17 wins. That is a credit to them and them buying in to our coaching. I can see their maturity on the court and in practice. The poise they are playing with, and we have some young ones playing with some great poise, I am really proud of their mindset and determination."

It was the young combining with the old to lead UTA in the finale. Johnson and freshman center Rebekah Van Dijk were the lone Lady Mavs to reach double-digit scoring. Van Dijk scored 11 points, five coming from the free-throw line.

Senior guard Chaun Williams starred on the defensive end, picking up a career-high seven steals in her final regular-season game. The Mountaineers were forced into turning the ball over 24 times, leading to 26 points for UTA.

The Lady Mavs broke the game open by clamping down defensively on App State in the second half. UTA's stingy defense led to multiple scoring droughts by the Mountaineers, as the Lady Mavs' lead reached 12. Appalachian State (14-15, 9-11) would get no closer than four points down the stretch.

UTA was perfect in six attempts in the final minute at the free-throw line, a feat Gerlich attributed to her team's growing maturity.

"It was fun to see them be poised," Gerlich said. "Their maturity at the free-throw line has been really good. They want to win and I was glad to see them have some confidence with the ball. I am really proud of their mindset and determination."

UTA was able to overcome a slow start to the game by stepping up on the defensive end. The Lady Mavs held Appalachian State without a field goal for more than seven minutes and went on an 11-0 run to charge into the lead.

Johnson led UTA with seven points in the half, while Van Dijk had six points, four coming on a perfect effort from the charity stripe. UTA was perfect from the free-throw line in six attempts. Williams had tied her career high with five steals in the opening half.

The Lady Mavericks will look to avenge a sweep by in-state rival Texas State in the tournament's first round on Wednesday.

"We are 0-0 right now," Gerlich said. "It is a new season. We can play as long as we want to. We don't have anything to lose really. We weren't picked to do anything so we have to go in there, and play just one game at a time and see what happens."

NOTES: Freshman G Cierra Johnson moved into fourth in UTA single-season history with 78 steals. ... Freshman C Rebekah Van Dijk improved to seventh in rebounds in a season with 298. ... Junior PG LaShanda Green went over 1,000 minutes played this season as she reached 1,005.