FORT WORTH – A record-setting season for the UT Arlington women's basketball team (24-8) came to an end in the Second Round of the WNIT as the Lady Mavs fell to TCU (22-10) Saturday afternoon, 71-54.
 
Cierra Johnson led the Lady Mavs in scoring for the 16th time this year with a game-high 23 points, while Terryn Milton added 10 to finish as the lone double-figure scorers for UTA.
 
Facing a 17-point 2nd-half deficit, UTA showed its resiliency and battled all the way back to trim that margin to just four, but the Lady Mavs couldn't get any closer. UTA struggled to get going offensively as the Lady Mavs shot just 30 percent (20-66) from the floor and 18 percent (5-28) from 3-point range.
 
UTA faced a large foul discrepancy as TCU marched to the free-throw line 31 times and made 24 of those (77 percent). UTA, meanwhile, went to the charity stripe only 14 times and converted nine of those (64 percent).
 
All but three of TCU's 71 points came in the paint or from the free-throw line as the Horned Frogs went 23-51 (45 percent) from the floor but only 1-13 (8 percent) from 3-point range. Conversely, half (27) of UTA's 54 points came from the paint or free-throw line.
 
The loss concludes arguably the most successful season in program history as the Lady Mavs won a postseason (excluding conference tournaments) game for the first time with their WNIT First Round triumph over Stephen F. Austin. The 24 overall victories are also tied for the most in a single season with the 2006-07 squad (24-9 overall, Head Coach Donna Capps).
 
QUARTER-BY-QUARTER RECAP
An Aysia Evans layup at the 3:45 mark of the 1st quarter pulled UTA within two, 12-10, but TCU closed the opening stanza on an 8-0 run to take a 20-10 lead after 10 minutes. The Lady Mavs shot just 25 percent (4-16) from the floor in the 1st quarter, while the Horned Frogs connected at a 50-percent rate (7-14) – in addition to going 5-7 from the free-throw line – as UTA was whistled for six fouls compared to just one for the hosts.
 
UTA put an end to the TCU run on a Brooke Alexander 3-pointer on its first possession of the 2nd quarter; however, the Horned Frogs responded with a 6-0 surge to create their largest lead of the afternoon to that point, 26-13. That advantage swelled to as much as 17 before TCU settled for a 35-20 halftime lead.
 
However, spurred by a large and vocal blue-and-orange contingent inside Schollmaier Arena, UTA began the 2nd half strong and got a 17-point 3rd-quarter deficit all the way down to four, 45-41, with 90 seconds remaining after a Lauren Billie baseline jumper. The Lady Mavs got the job done on the defensive end in the quarter, holding the Big 12 member without a made field goal for nearly seven minutes.
 
TCU took an eight-point edge, 51-43, into the 4th quarter, but quickly created separation as the Horned Frogs out-scored the Lady Mavs in the final quarter, 20-11.
 
NOTEWORTHY

• Johnson finishes her career 7th on UTA's scoring list with 1,396.
• UTA committed just 11 turnovers while forcing TCU into 17 giveaways.
• TCU out-scored UTA in the paint, 44-18.
• Katie Ferrell pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds and added five points and a game-high four steals – one shy of matching her career best.
• Daiane Machado scored six points and corralled three rebounds.
• Milton also added a team-best four assists.