SAN MARCOS, Texas – The UTA women's basketball, the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Sun Belt Championships, erased an 11-point halftime lead and defeated Texas State, 44-41, to capture a share of the 2018-19 Sun Belt Regular Season Title on Saturday afternoon at Strahan Arena. The Lady Mavs improve to 23-6 overall and 15-3 in Sun Belt play with the win.
Freshman
Terryn Milton and junior
Aysia Evans each tallied 12 points to lead the Lady Mavs. Milton was a perfect 3-for-3 from the 3-point line, while Evans added three steals off the bench. Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year candidate
Cierra Johnson finished with nine points and five boards and
Katie Ferrell chipped in with 11 boards and three steals.
Texas State, who held the Lady Mavs scoreless over the final 6:19 of the second quarter, closed the second period on a 12-0 run to take a 28-17 lead into the locker room the break.
UTA bounced back and outscored the Bobcats 10-3 in the third quarter to cut the Texas State lead to four points and get back into the game.
Milton's 3-pointer at the 8:16 mark in the fourth marked the first bucket of the frame for UTA. From then on the Lady Mavs used their full-court, man-to-man pressure to frustrate and force the Bobcats into bad shots and turnovers.
With the score knotted at 36-36, C. Johnson drove baseline and picked up a three-point play to give the Lady Mavs a 39-36 lead (3:26). A few possessions later, with the score tied at 40-40, Evans knocked down a corner triple to put UTA up for good.
Texas State had one final chance to tie the game. With 11 seconds left on the clock, the Bobcats struggled to get the ball inbounds on the sideline and a tough entry pass led to a travel and the Lady Mavericks were able to hold off the Bobcats for the huge win.
Up next, No. 2 seed UTA will await their opponent for the semifinal round (Friday, March 15) of the 2019 Sun Belt Championship at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, La. Tip-off for the contest is set 2 p.m.
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GAME NOTES
- The Lady Mavs trailed by 11-points at the half
- UTA held Texas State to just 3 points in the third quarter
- The Lady Mavericks claimed a share of the Sun Belt regular-season title
- UTA is the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt Championship and will play on Friday, March 15 at 2 p.m.
