Box Score | Notes

TROY, Ala. - In a matchup that featured a battle between two of the three teams unbeaten in the Sun Belt, it was Troy that came out firing, downing UTA 85-68 on Saturday at Trojan Arena.

UTA, suffering its first loss of 2017, fell to 11-4 overall and 4-1 in conference. Troy advanced to 12-4 and 5-0 in the league, improving to 6-2 in the all-time series. UTA trailed by as many as 26 points in the contest but trimmed the deficit down to 10 in the fourth, however, Troy responded to lead wire-to-wire for the second consecutive meeting.

Christina Devers led UTA offensively as she returned to double digits for the first time since Dec. 22 at Texas Tech. Devers finished with 16. Rebekah VanDijk fell just one rebound short of her fourth consecutive double-double as she finished with 10 points. On Troy's side, it was Amanda Mendoza and Caitlyn Ramirez to lead the attack with 17 points each as three finished in double figures

A fired up Trojan squad came out hot in the first quarter, knocking down shots at a 50.0 percent clip, while UTA was just as equally cold. The Lady Mavs, hitting 10 3-pointers on Thursday night, connected on just one of their first 10 in the opening period. Troy used the offensive struggles on the UTA side to turn in multiple 9-0 runs in the first quarter, leading 31-13 after the opener.

The Lady Mavs were able to settle in during the second frame, opening with a 5-0 run. Troy, however, answered right back just as UTA's shots appeared to heat up with another run, this time an 8-0 spurt to build the lead beyond 20 points. With both teams firing on all cylinders, Troy and UTA exchanged shots as each closed by hitting six of the last eight field goals to close the half. Troy's Caitlyn Ramirez led all scorers with 14 points in the half, while Cierra Johnson led UTA's effort with six.

With both teams continuing to match each other through the first five minutes of the second half, it was Christina Devers the lifted UTA offensively. Devers produced an 11-point outburst in the final two minutes of the third and brought the deficit under 20 points.

Devers continued her spark of energy with an early bucket to begin the fourth, helping UTA jump out to a quick 7-2 run to trim the deficit down to 13 and forcing a Troy timeout.

KEY RUNS
First Half
Two separate 9-0 runs for Troy built up a quick 20-point lead for the Trojans and UTA was unable to counter, shooting its coldest half from beyond the arc of the season as it missed on 16 of the first 17 attempts.

Second Half
As UTA trimmed the deficit down to just 10 points after trailing by as many as 26, the Trojans scored the game's final seven points to answer UTA's run.

KEY STATS
After hitting just 1 of the first 17 3-pointers, UTA finished 7-30, led by Lauren Billie and Ericka Mattingly who hit two apiece. UTA used its fifth lineup of the season to start the game by inserting Crystal Allen for the first time this season. UTA held Troy under its season average for rebounding as UTA outrebounded the Trojans 44-41.

UPCOMING GAME
Putting a three-game trip behind them, the Lady Mavericks return to College Park Center on Thursday when they welcome Louisiana at 7 p.m. The brief two-game homestand continues on Saturday against ULM with a 2 p.m. tip featured on ESPN3.

The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy. New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your school's ticket office. For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship - Women's Championship - and be sure to follow the #FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.