Final Stats

By Michael Eldridge | @DFWSportsMike

ATLANTA - In a reversal of the teams' previous meeting, it was UT Arlington that used a big third quarter to pull away against Georgia State. The Lady Mavericks earned their third win in the last four games with a 74-45 victory on Saturday at GSU Sports Arena.

The Lady Mavericks (10-11, 5-6 Sun Belt) outscored the Panthers 24-9 in the third to avenge what was a 25-2 advantage for GSU in the Dec. 30 meeting at College Park Center. The win gave UTA coach Krista Gerlich 199 in her career, just one shy of the 200 milestone as the Lady Mavs travel to Texas State on Tuesday to end a five-game road trip.

UTA's three starting guards were at the helm of an attack that shot 45.5 percent from the field. Amara Wainwright and LaShanda Green each tied for a game high with 16 points. Cierra Johnson added 15 points, tied a career high with six assists and also chipped in with three steals.

After the teams exchanged six 3-pointers to start the game, it was UTA that took command of the half. Johnson led the charge with a pair from beyond the arc and UTA went on an 11-0 run to end the first quarter.

The momentum continued to swing in the Lady Mavs' favor to start the second. UTA held Georgia State scoreless for more than five minutes as the stretch went to 21-5 in favor of the Lady Mavs. The Panthers defense was finally able to hold back UTA late in the half. The Lady Mavs were scoreless for the final three minutes of the period as GSU closed the game to 37-25 at halftime.

UTA expanded the lead past 30 points with its defense clamping down on the Panthers. GSU shot just 25 percent in the third quarter on 4-of-16 shooting, knocking down its lone 3-pointer of the quarter with 10 seconds left in the third.

Turning point
Leading by 12 coming out of the break, UTA left no doubt in the contest with a 16-2 run to start the third to build the lead up to a game-high 32 points. The Lady Mavs shot 66.7 in the quarter, hitting 10-of-15 from the field, including 3-4 from 3-point range.

Key Stats
UTA outscored GSU 30-5 in points off of turnovers despite just a slight edge in the overall turnover margin (UTA plus four). ... Cierra Johnson has had double-digit scoring in three of the last four games. ... Rebekah VanDijk's double-double streak came to an end as the sophomore had nine points and seven rebounds.

Notable
UTA improved to 5-1 against Georgia State all-time and are 3-0 at GSU Sports Arena. ... UTA is 3-1 in the five-game road trip. ... GSU led by just 17 seconds in the game.

Up next
UTA closes out the road trip on Tuesday at Texas State at 1 p.m. The Bobcats have won the last five games and lead the all-time series 38-25.

Quotable
UTA coach Krista Gerlich on the team's performance:
"It was a really big win. I don't know if I have been more proud of a group of girls. When we lost that game at home, we had a 6 a.m. practice that next day and spent a lot of time trying to rehash every little thing about that game. These kids didn't forget that. We had a 7 a.m. practice this morning and they have been set on go ever since that day. I am really proud of the effort that they showed tonight."

Gerlich on the performance of her starting guards:
"Our guards did a really nice job. I challenged those three because I thought Rebekah is starting to play well and Toma is starting to figure it out. They remember that they didn't shoot the ball well last time and didn't look inside well. I am proud of the way they played and maybe more proud of the 17 assists that they had."

Amara Wainwright on being able to avenge the earlier loss:
"It was great. On our scout, coach put a quote that said, 'the axe forgets but the tree remembers,' and we remembered how we felt that game and we wanted to make them feel the way we felt. We wanted to show them who we actually are and the team they are actually playing and get after them."

Wainwright on the team's ability to shoot the 3-pointer:
"We were confident. We came in and hit a few shots early and that kept us going. We were able to help each other hit those 3-pointers, and after we hit the first couple it kept us going."

Wainwright on the points off of turnover margin:
"It goes with the confidence again. A lot of times we struggle with taking care of the ball, and some teams take advantage of it. But for us to do that against them helped our confidence today."