ARLINGTON - The third-seeded UTA women's basketball team struggled shooting the ball in the second half and were upset by No. 6 South Alabama, 55-47, in the quarterfinals of the 2020 Sun Belt Championship Wednesday night at College Park Center.

With the loss, the Lady Mavs fall to 21-11 on the season, while South Alabama improves to 16-16 on the year. The loss also snapped UTA's 8-game winning streak and marked the second straight season that USA has defeated the Lady Mavs at the Sun Belt Tournament after beating UTA 57-50 in the semifinals a year ago

The Lady Mavs shot just 26.7 percent (16-of-60) from the field, including just 13.8 percent (4-of-29) in the second half, in the loss. UTA was outscored 29-13 in the second half.

UTA outrebounded South Alabama 46-35, but the Jaguars were plus-two on the boards over the final 20 minutes after UTA posted a 26-13 advantage in the category in the first half. The Lady Mavs forced USA into 20 turnovers, but South Alabama finished with an 18-13 edge in points off turnovers.

Claire Chastain led the squad with a team-high 12 points. The sophomore also added two boards and a pair of steals. Aysia Evans chipped in with 10 points, while Katie Ferrell pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds to go with her five assists and three points. Terryn Milton finished with six points and six assists and Misty Dossey registered five points and six boards.

South Alabama was led by Shaforia Kines' game-high 28 points. Kines was 7-of-13 from the field — making 5-of-8 shots from beyond the three-point arc — and converted 9-of-10 foul shots to lead the Jaguars.

UTA closed the first quarter on a 7-1 run to take a 17-12 lead after 10 minutes of play. The Lady Mavs were leading 34-23 at the end of the first half, but a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Kines cut the UTA lead down to 34-26 heading into the locker room at the intermission.

The second half saw the Lady Mavericks go cold shooting the ball and USA took advantage. The Jags went 7-of-11 from the floor in the third period, outscoring the Lady Mavericks by 12 to take a 45-41 edge. That would be as close as UTA would get in the fourth quarter as South limited the Lady Mavs to just 1-of-13 shooting in the period and went on to pick up the 55-47 win.

UTA will now await its postseason fate. The Lady Mavs are hoping to earn a bid to a postseason tournament for the third time in four seasons (WNIT – 2017, 2019). The WNIT and other postseason tournament selections will be made following the NCAA Tournament Selection Show this coming Monday evening, Mar. 16. For additional information, log on to UTAMavs.com.

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