MONROE, La. - The UTA women's basketball team fought through a cold shooting night to post a 60-56 overtime win over ULM on Saturday afternoon at the Fant-Ewing Coliseum and took over first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings in the process.

With the win, UTA improves to 20-6 overall (12-3 SBC), securing the 10th 20-win season in program history, while ULM falls to 8-17 on the season and 2-12 in conference play. The Lady Mavs, who are the Sun Belt's first team to 20 wins this season, took over the top spot in the league thanks to Little Rock dropping a close game (62-58) at Arkansas State Saturday afternoon.

Claire Chastain led the Lady Mavs with a game-high 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. The freshman also added a game-high 11 boards to register her first collegiate double-double. Cierra Johnson recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Laurynn McGowen and Terryn Milton added nine points and three boards each, while Katie Ferrell chipped in with six points, six rebounds and a game-high four assists.

UTA picked up the overtime victory despite shooting just 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the floor and 20 percent (2-of-10) from long distance. The Warhawks knocked down 20-of-54 shots (37 percent) and were outrebounded by the Lady Mavs 47-29. 

The Lady Mavs got big contributions from Chastain and McGowen at the end of regulation and overtime to secure the win. Chastain scored a tough layup to tie the game (51-51) with 32 seconds left in regulation and she knocked down a jumper to give UTA a 2-point lead with 33 seconds left in the OT. McGowen scored five points in the overtime period, including three free-throws in the last 18 seconds to put the game out of reach.

The Lady Mavericks return to the court next week for the final regular season home games of the season. UTA will face South Alabama on Thursday, Feb. 28 (7 p.m.), before battling Troy on Senior Day (Saturday, March 2; 2 p.m.).

For the latest news on UTA Women's Basketball, log on to UTAMavs.com or stay connected to the Lady Mavs on social media. Follow the Lady Mavericks on Twitter @LadyMavHoops, on Instagram @UTALadyMavs and on Facebook at Facebook.com/LadyMavHoops.

FINAL
UTA 60, ULM 56
Fant-Ewing Coliseum | Monroe, La.

UTA STAT LEADERS AT ULM
Points: Chastain – 17
Rebounds: Chastain – 11
Assists: Ferrell – 4
Steals: 3 Players – 1
Blocks: 4 Players – 1