STATESBORO, Ga. – Mya Burns knocked down two free throws with four seconds to play as the UT Arlington women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 64-63 setback on Saturday afternoon inside the Hanner Fieldhouse.

The loss drops UTA to 9-5 overall and 3-2 in the Sun Belt Conference. Georgia Southern improves to 11-5 and 2-2 in the SBC.

Senior Claire Chastain scored 15 points, all coming in the second half, to go with 13 rebounds for her second career double-double. Junior Starr Jacobs added 15 points, five boards, three steals, and two assists, while senior Katie Ferrell added a season-high 15 points, including three 3-pointers, seven rebounds, and two steals.

Senior Terryn Milton had 13 points and a career-high four blocks. Senior Shyia Smith scored three points off the bench, while senior Emma Halverson added two points.

Burns led Georgia Southern with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Terran Ward and Ja'riya Love-Hill each had seven points.

It was another fast start for UTA in the first quarter as Milton, Jacobs, and Ferrell all got on the board to open up a 6-0 lead. That lead would extend to 11-2 after a Ferrell 3-pointer as the Lady Mavs were in control early on.

UTA kept the frenetic pace up as stops would turn into transition offense on the other end. Jacobs would get her total up to eight in the first frame, while Smith added a bucket off the bench. At the end of the quarter, UTA held an 18-9 advantage.

However, things would flip in the second quarter as UTA went into a cold spell.

After a pair of Halverson free throws at the 8:20 mark, Georgia Southern went on a 10-0 to even the game at 20. Ferrell knocked down a jumper to regain the lead, but the Eagles caught fire as they used an 8-0 run to close the quarter, outscoring UTA 24-6 in the second to take a 33-24 lead at the break.

Georgia Southern pushed that lead to a game-high 13 points early in the third quarter and maintained a double-digit lead at 40-29 four minutes into the half.

However, UTA found a spark and went on a massive 21-4 run to close the quarter. The run was sparked at 2:40 mark when Chastain knocked down a triple along with the foul to cut the deficit in half. Moments later, Ferrell connected on a 3-pointer followed by Jacobs free throws to suddenly retake the lead.

Georgia Southern evened the game at 44, but Chastain scored the final six points to cap a 12 point quarter 50-44 going into the final frame.

The Eagles cut the game back down to three early in the fourth, but UTA maintained its lead after a Milton lay in, moving back ahead by five. Georgia Southern scored six of the next seven points to even the game back at 56 before back-to-back buckets from Chastain and Ferrell pushed the lead back to five with 1:09 to go.

Georgia Southern scored the next five points on a deep three from Burns and a lay in from Eden Johnson with 20 seconds to play. On the other end, Jacobs put a runner down with 14 seconds to play to put UTA back up 63-61.

The Eagles drew a foul and went 1 of 2 at the line with 11 seconds to play. UTA appeared to have the perfect play called and had an easy lay up set up, but a huge chase down block by Burns gave Southern the ball back with seven seconds to play.

On the other end, Burns drew another foul and knocked down two free throws with four seconds to play to push the lead back to 64-63. Ferrell connected on a deep pass to Jacobs, who drove in for the win, but a controversial jump ball was called as opposed to a foul, and the Eagles took over with 0.7 to play.

Georgia Southern chunked a deep ball, and time ran out as UTA suffered a tough road loss to conclude the weekend.

BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• The second quarter was disastrous for UTA as they only shot 2 of 8 from the field and turned it over eight times, four of those being offensive fouls.
• UTA responded incredibly in the third quarter, going 9 of 18 form the field with three of their four total made 3-pointers in that period.
• Georgia Southern outscored UTA 31-5 in bench points. 
• The Eagles also held a 15-5 advantage in second chance points, finishing with 48 total rebounds, including 18 offensive.
• The Lady Mavs had, by far, their worst assist-to-turnover ratio in a game, finishing with 17 turnover to only seven assists.
• The seven assists in a season-low for UTA and snaps a string of 11 straight games with 10 or assists or more as a team.
• The Lady Mavs were 3 of 6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

NOTABLES

• Claire Chastain's 13 rebounds were a season-high for the Lady Mavs and a career-high for the senior from Shawnee.
• Chastain's 12 third quarter points was the most by a Lady Mav in a period this season.
• Additionally, Terryn Milton's four blocks were also a season-high for the Lady Mavs and a career-high for Mlton.
• Katie Ferrell set season-highs with 15 points and three made 3-pointers.
• It was Georgia Southern's second-ever win over UTA in program history and snapped a four-game UTA winning streak.
• UTA finished with only 28 points in the paint, only the second time this season they've been held under 30 points inside the paint (0-2 in those games).

QUOTABLES
"I thought our kids battled and we got off to a quick start. However, in the second quarter we had one of those lapses. That falls on us as a staff. We got to put our kids in better positions. We had opportunities to put the game away in the second half. We were in a position to win." - Shereka Wright


NEXT UP
UTA returns to the College Park Center in between road trips as they take on in-state rival Texas State. Tip-off is set for 7 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).