SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A red-hot start and huge final 10 minutes sparked UT Arlington's largest win over a fellow NCAA Division I program since 2007 as the Lady Mavericks topped Incarnate Word 97-49 on Sunday at the McDermott Center.

The 48-point margin was the largest for UTA since posting a 51-point win over Nicholls State in 2007, a season in which UTA won the Southland Conference and reached the NCAA Tournament. It marked the ninth highest margin, and second against a Division I program as all previous were prior to the NCAA in 1981 or against teams from lower divisions. 
 
The Lady Mavs opened the game by scoring the first 16 points and led by as much as 26 points in the opening 20 minutes. The win pushed UTA's overall record to 4-2 and 2-1 during its trip. Incarnate Word fell to 0-8 for the year. UTA continues action on the road when it travels up to Oral Roberts on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tip. The 97 points scored are the second most for the Lady Mavs this season, only behind a 99-point effort in the opener against Jackson State. 

It was a day where multiple Lady Mavs caught fire during multiple spurts against the Cardinals. Freshman Claire Chastain opened things up by tallying her fourth double-digit scoring effort of the season with 11, reaching the total early in the second quarter. Freshman Terryn Milton picked up where Chastain left off, knocking down a team-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Sophomore Kelsey Johnson was the third in double figures as her third-quarter total lifted her to tying her career-high in points at 12, equaling her output against Jackson State in the opener. 

UTA finished with 50.0 percent shooting, its third game of the year above the 50 percent mark. UTA connected on nine of its 19 three's taken. On the defensive side, the Cardinals were held to just 31.0 percent shooting and gave away 24 turnovers. Katie Ferrell grabbed five of them, while Emma Halverson picked up four steals. Brooke Alexander finished with one of her most efficient games, dishing five assists, grabbing five rebounds and scoring nine. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UTA was on fire to open the matchup with success coming in three's. Chastain started things off with the game's opening points from beyond the arc, she'd follow it up by knocking down all three free throws in the next possession after getting fouled on a long-range attempt. Terryn Milton and Aysia Evans would each knock down 3-pointers on the way to sparking a 16-0 run to open the game.
 
The shooting would cool off for the Lady Mavs as UIW climbed into the game. However, UTA would get to the line eight times, knocking down every opportunity at the charity stripe to go up 16-0 after the first.
 
Incarnate Word was able to take an early punch from the UTA offense to battle back in the second quarter. With UTA going up by 26 points with more than six minutes to go in the half, the shooting from the Cardinals brought the lead back down to just 17 at the break. UIW improved hits shooting percentage by more than 10 points in the second period, hitting on 37.5 percent, taking advantage of UTA turnovers. However, UTA was at 52.6 percent and scored its most points in a first half this season at 46.
 
The gap was closed to just 12 points midway through the third as the Cardinals came out focused. UIW would spark an 8-2 run before a key play from Aysia Evans answered the run and helped UTA send the lead back out to 16 points. Kelsey Johnson used the spark to join the double-figure club, scoring six points in a two-minute span and eight in the third to give UTA a 23-point edge to the final 10 minutes.
 
UTA used the long ball to maintain its lead early in the fourth quarter. Three fell for the Lady Mavericks, two coming from Lauren Billie, in the first three minutes of the final stanza and UTA pushed the lead back above 20 points. With the defense allowing just four points in the final period, all eyes turned to the offense on its quest for the fourth 100-point game in UTA history, however, the Lady Mavs came up just short with 1-of-3 shooting in the final minute and a half, including a 3-pointer that circled the rim and out. 
 
NOTABLE
The 46 points in the first half were only behind UTA's 58 scored in the second half of the season opener – a program record for points in a half, UTA bested the first with a 51-point total, the third most in a half in program history… UTA used the same starting lineup for the second consecutive game, starting a trio of freshmen… UTA is 3-1 all-time against UIW, meeting for the first time in San Antonio... UTA featured 13 scorers, nine scoring five or more to best the five that did the same achievement in last year's meeting at College Park Center... Alexander's five-steal effort is a team season high... Cierra Johnson finished with seven to bring her career total to 976 in her career in a quest to become UTA's 19th member of the 1,000-point club. The senior grabbed two steals to bring her total to 265 and 20 away from the UTA all-time mark.