ARLINGTON – Marie Benson scored a game-high 25 points to lead UTA to a huge 65-58 win over Sun Belt preseason favorite and defending SBC Tournament champion Little Rock at College Park Center on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Lady Mavs improve to 8-6 overall and 2-0 in the league, while Little Rock falls to 3-10 on the season and 1-1 in the SBC. The win also marked UTA's first win over the Trojans since joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2013-14 (had lost 10 in a row to the Trojans, including 4 straight at CPC) and the first win over Little Rock during Coach Krista Gerlich's tenure.

UTA shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) on the afternoon, while Little Rock made just 20 of their 52 shot attempts (38.5 percent). The Lady Mavs won the rebounding battle 34-30 and forced the Trojans into 15 turnovers.

Marie Benson shot an efficient 11-of-16 from the floor and knocked down 3-of-4 shots from the charity stripe to finish with her game-high 25 points. The Waco native also added a team-high seven rebounds and four steals. Terryn Milton chipped in with 12 points, four assists and three boards, while Aysia Evans added nine points and three steals. The SBC's leader in field goal percentage Misty Dossey made both of her shot attempts and finished with four points, five rebounds and a block, while Katie Ferrell registered four points, seven assists and five rebounds.

Leading by 14 (54-40) early in the fourth quarter, the Lady Mavs looked to be pulling away with the game, but Little Rock responded with an 11-0 run to cut the UTA lead down to just three points (54-51) with 6:08 remaining in regulation.

A 6-1 run by the Lady Mavs pushed their lead back to eight points (60-52). Back-to-back buckets from Kyra Collier pulled the Trojans within four points with 1:23 remaining, but UTA was able to hold off Little Rock and pick up the big conference victory.

The Lady Mavericks who have been home since Dec. 4, will now hit the road for a pair of conference games. UTA will travel to Boone, N.C. to face App State (3-10, 0-2 SBC) on Thursday, Jan. 9 (5:30 p.m.), before heading to Conway, S.C. to take on Coastal Carolina (11-2, 1-1 SBC) on Saturday, Jan. 11 (1:00 p.m.).

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