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UTA (12-4, 5-1) 79, Louisiana (10-5, 4-2) 66
Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017
College Park Center • Arlington, Texas
Postgame Quotes

UTA Head Coach Krista Gerlich

Opening statement …
"Obviously that was a tale of two halves. I thought we came out in the second half, played our game and played inspired. That is what we have been trying to get these girls to do consistently. It has been difficult but we definitely have seen some glimpses of what this team is capable of. (Louisiana) Lafayette is a really good basketball team and I think they were shorthanded tonight. The longer we played the more we exposed that a little bit. Our kids did a good job making adjustments offensively. We were really trying to get the ball inside and it opened up some skip passes and Crystal (Allen) knocked down a couple big threes. Cierra (Johnson) knocked down a couple of big threes. We had some nice takes. Then obviously defensively we started getting some stops in the second half that we needed. Ericka (Mattingly) was a big part of that. Not only guarding their best players but running into some passing lanes and getting some steals. Really great team win. We had a lot of different people step up. Lauren (Billie) got us going in the second half. Shelby (Richards) gave us some really good minutes. I just told the girls that Cierra, Rebekah (VanDijk) and Ericka have been our constants. We've had some players around them step up at different times and that is the mark of a really good team."

On holding junior UL forward Simone Fields scoreless …
"Rebekah has a lot to do with that because she was on her all night. I know she wanted to make a stand a little bit because last year I thought Fields did a good job of exposing Rebekah at times. We had some really good team defense. They have a different offensive mindset this year because they have two guards that can really score. I don't know how much they are really looking for her but regardless our kids did a good job of keeping her off the boards and limiting her second-chance opportunities."

UTA Student-Athletes

#14, Fr., Ericka Mattingly, PG

On totaling eight steals in the win …
"Cierra has definitely set an example for me on how to work hard and how to get steals and stuff like that. Our coaches are all about intensity, especially on defense. Hearing how intense they are it just makes me want to be intense and get some steals as well."

#00, Jr., Cierra Johnson, G

On what made the difference …
"Our coach, honestly. We really wanted to do it for her because we really weren't playing in the first half to be honest. We knew we had to pick it up and my teammates were able to find me with the ball and we were able to make that extra pass."

On beating Louisiana …
"It felt great to beat them because they beat us three times last year. We competed last year but we just came short. I really wanted the triple-double but I wanted the win more. If Rebekah gets the rebound that is fine with me."