ARLINGTON – A late rally by the offense lifted UT Arlington to a 53-48 win over in-state rival UTSA on Thursday afternoon at College Park Center.
 
The Lady Mavericks, winning their fifth consecutive, scored the game's final seven points after trailing by two with under a minute to play. It was a Johnson connection down the stretch, with Cierra Johnson scoring five, and Kelsey Johnson hitting two from the line to clinch the win. UTA earned its fourth consecutive win over the Roadrunners, improving to 7-2 overall, while UTSA went to 4-7 for the season.
 
UTA finished with three in double figures, led by 11-point performances by Laurynn McGowen and Terryn Milton. Brooke Alexander hit UTA's only 3-pointers of the day, knocking down two on the way to 10 points. Cierra Johnson finished with nine points, her second consecutive game with key points down the stretch. 
 
After a first half of cold shooting, UTA rebounded in the second to knock down shots at a 64.3 percent clip in the third quarter, UTA finished with 32.3 percent shooting, its second consecutive game below the 35-percent mark - both Lady Maverick wins.
 
UTA closes the home nonconference portion of its schedule on Saturday when it hosts Pac-12 foe USC at 2 p.m.

QUOTABLE
Head coach Krista Gerlich
"I thought UTSA did a great job, they are a very well coached team and we well prepared for us. You can definitely tell they were ready for our defensives and our offenses, they took away things that were good for us to see. Their record doesn't show how good of a basketball team they are. I am really proud of my team for digging deep and finding a way to win. We have talked all year about our freshmen and how talented they are, but if you don't have have strong senior leadership, things like that do not happen. I think our seniors today really embraced the role of the team being great. Cierra and Laurynn really stepped up tonight in tough situations. Tonight, they both attacked and played really well throughout the game."

"I am really proud of them, and the whole team, this was a whole team effort. This is a really tough week and a fun week. It is nice to be 2-0 thus far in it."

On the change of pace in the second half...
"We tried to step up our defense where our defense can turn into our offense. We also went into a different offense that loosened it up a bit and allowed us to get higher-percentage shots and we just had better rhythm. We play better sometimes when we play faster and more up-tempo."

Senior Cierra Johnson
On her play in the fourth...
"It is just about playing as hard as I can. My teammates trust me and they get me the ball. That is the only way that I'd be able to do it."

Senior Laurynn McGowen
On the quick start to the second half...
"I was just trying to be a leader. Coach always tell us to be a leader and find ways to lead even if you aren't talking. Lead by example. That is just what I was trying to do and to find a way to get my team going because our shots weren't falling in the first half."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a defensive battle in the first half, with neither team being able to get in gear on the offensive side. The Lady Mavericks would shoot just 22.6 percent in the first half, knocking down just one of their nine attempts from beyond the arc.
 
However, the defense kept the matchup locked at halftime with UTSA turning the ball over 12 times down the floor, including a milestone steal by Johnson to move into the Sun Belt all-time top 10.
 
McGowen was the spark to the offense to start the third quarter, scoring eight points over the first four minutes. Milton joined in on the run with a short runner bouncing around the rim and in to hand UTA its largest lead of the game at six halfway through the third.
 
Milton kept the run going with another jumper down the floor to keep the lead at six and send UTSA to a timeout late in the third. However, after a pair of free throws, the Roadrunners would go scoreless in the final two minutes with UTA taking a five-point advantage into the final frame.
 
With UTA taking its lead out to a seven-point lead early in the fourth, it appeared that the offense was going to pull away. However, UTSA stormed back in a two-minute spurt, capped by a 6-0 run into the lead with under six to play.
 
The Lady Mavs answered right back to take the lead, but went cold over the span of three minutes without a field goal during a stretch of making just one shot in 12 attempts. UTSA converted on the other end and lead by two with a minute to go.
 
Out of a UTSA timeout, Johnson would snatch away the inbound pass and convert on the lay in, getting fouled in the process and handing the advantage back to the host at the free-throw line with 52 seconds. She'd convert on an inside jumper in the next trip down the floor, while back-to-back jumpers from UTSA would bounce off the rim into UTA hands. 

NOTABLE
UTA used the same starting five (Ferrell, Alexander, Milton, McGowen, Johnson) for the second consecutive game… Aysia Evans was the first sub at the 5:39 mark, coming in for McGowen... UTA is 34-28 all-time against the Roadrunners and are 20-8 on the home court... UTA is 4-0 in the month of December. UTA is 3-1 at home this season, 27-6 at home the last three seasons... The game was tied 12 times, while there were 11 lead changes. UTA led for 21:32 to UTSA's 8:28.