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NEW ORLEANS - Advancing into the semifinals for the first time in the Sun Belt, No. 2 UTA battles No. 3 Troy on Saturday for a spot in the championship game.

The Lady Mavericks picked up their first SBC Championship win in three attempts in defeating South Alabama 65-53 in the quarterfinals. The win pushed UTA's overall record to 22-7, just two shy of the program's all-time win mark. Troy, the defending SBC tournament champion, advanced with a 105-72 win over Arkansas State. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Lakefront Arena. The contest is featured on ESPN3.

"To finally get that first win really feels good," UTA coach Krista Gerlich said after Thursday's game. "It's huge for our program and obviously, we don't want to be satisfied with just one win. But our kids have got to figure out how to steamroll through the rest of this tournament."

Cierra Johnson led the way with 20 points, the most scored in a UTA postseason game since 2010, while Rebekah VanDijk was on her heels with 19. Each moved up several all-time charts against the Jaguars. Johnson pushed to fourth in UTA history with 238 career steals. The mark is good for 21st in the Sun Belt Conference record book. For single-season history, she moved to third, besting her freshman mark of 81. Johnson needs just 10 more to tie for the best in season history.

VanDijk, equally as impressive, moved up to eighth on UTA's all-time scoring charts. VanDijk is just 10 points from tying Julie Coleman for eighth.

Troy (20-10) had a game for the record books with 86 rebounds picked up, including a SBC record 22 from Caitlyn Ramirez. The total was the second most in a NCAA Division I game, only behind a 92-rebound game in 1982 by Pittsburgh. The Trojans shot just 30.8 from the field, but grabbed 41 offensive rebounds.

The teams split the season series with each taking the home contest. Troy used a strong first quarter to down UTA in the Jan. 23 meeting, taking it 85-68. UTA flipped the script in the Feb. 23 bout as it won 78-72 at College Park Center.