ARLINGTON – The UT Arlington women's basketball team hung around with one of the top teams in the nation throughout the first half, trailing 38-32 at the break in front of a raucous crowd at the College Park Center.
However, No. 7/8 Baylor showed why they were one of the more dominant programs for over two decades as they outscored the Lady Mavs 43-24 in the second half to pull away for an 81-54 victory on Thursday evening.
After pushing a 12-6 lead in the early goings of the first quarter, UTA stormed back with six of the next eight points from junior
Starr Jacobs and senior
De'Sha Benjamin to cut it to a 14-12 game. Baylor would outscore UTA 10-3 in the final five minutes to take a 24-15 lead after one.
The Lady Mavs put together their best quarter in the second as they outscored the Bears 17-14. Jacobs was outstanding as she scored the first 10 points of the quarter as part of a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 26-25. After a Bears basket,
Claire Chastain buried a 3-pointer to even the game at 28.
After back-and-forth buckets kept the game even at 30, Baylor scored eight of the final 10 points to push a 38-32 lead at the break.
That little momentum burst to end the half may have been enough to swing the game as Baylor went on a monster 20-5 run in the third quarter to push the lead to 58-37. UTA could not overcome second-half shooting woes as they were 6 of 27 in the second half as the Bears pulled away for the win.
Jacobs put on a dazzling first-half performance with 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting but only played four minutes of the second half. Senior
Terryn Milton filled up the stat sheet with eight points, eight rebounds, and five assists. Benjamin added eight points and two boards, while
Emma Halverson had six points off the bench.
Reigning WBCA National Player of the Year NaLyssa Smith led the Bears with 21 points, 16 boards, two steals, and two blocks, while Ja'Mee Asberry added 17 points on five 3-pointers. Sarah Andrews poured in 15 points while Jordan Lewis added 12.
BOX SCORE NUGGETS
- The Lady Mavs only made one 3-pointer on the night, going 1 of 17 (6%) from deep, their lowest output since going 1 of 9 against Little Rock on Jan. 4, 2020, a game UTA won 65-58.
- In her first outing as a Lady Mav, Jacobs was terrific in the first half, shooting 6 of 9 from the field. She was on pace to move into the Top 10 of made field goals in a game as 12 would've put her into the record books, but Jacobs missed most of the second half.
- Milton added five assists on Thursday night to move to 292, just eight shy of 300 career assists.
- Two freshmen scored their first collegiate points as Jordyn Turner finished with four while Olympia Chaney added two. Turner's first point came on a free throw with 4:37 to play in the fourth while Chaney checked in and immediately scored on a jumper with 8:18 to play in the fourth.
- After shooting only 4 of 25 (16%) two nights ago from deep, Baylor was hot from deep on this night as they shot 9 of 25 (36%) from beyond the arc.
- The Lady Mavs outrebounded Baylor 23-18 in the first half, including seven offensive boards, but Baylor held a 24-14 advantage in the second half despite seven more offensive boards for UTA.
- Nine different Lady Mavs scored in the game.
- The Lady Mavs got 16 bench points.
NOTES
- Baylor has now won eight straight over UT Arlington.
- The loss snaps a five-game season-opener winning streak for the Lady Mavs, with their last loss coming at the hands of Baylor in Waco in 2015. It also snaps a seven-game home opener winning streak.
- UTA now moved to 3-3 all-time against Baylor in Arlington.
- The 81 points allowed are the most points UTA has given up in the Shereka Wright era. The last time UTA allowed over 80 points in a game was on Feb. 8, 2020, in an 80-62 loss to Coastal Carolina.
- UTA was one of the top teams in the Sun Belt in assist-to-turnover ratio a season ago. On this night, the Mavs finished with nine assists to 14 turnovers.
NEXT UP
UTA will welcome Sam Houston to the College Park Center on Saturday as part of Homecoming. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m., and tickets are still available at
UTATickets.com.
FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the women's basketball program on Twitter (@UTAMavsWBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsWBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsWBB).
