ARLINGTON – After an 18 point first quarter, the UT Arlington women's basketball team struggled offensively the rest of the way as they fell to the Troy Trojans, 59-48, on Saturday afternoon inside the College Park Center.
With the win, Troy overtakes first place in the SBC as they move to 3-0 in the conference, while UTA goes to 2-1 and 8-4 overall.
Junior
Starr Jacobs led the scoring output with 14 points but only played 20 minutes due to foul trouble throughout the game. Senior
Terryn Milton notched UTA's first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds to go with four steals.
Seniors
De'Sha Benjamin and
Shyia Smith each scored five, while senior
Katie Ferrell added two points, five assists, four boards, three steals, and a block.
Jhileiya Dunlap put together a monster game for Troy with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and six blocks, while Felmas Koranga followed with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
UTA came out red hot in the first quarter as they used a massive 11-0 run to jump out to a 15-4 lead throughout the first seven minutes of play. Throughout the quarter, excellent defense from the Lady Mavs produced seven Troy turnovers and helped UTA build their lead.
The Trojans used a 6-0 run to creep back into it, but
Reniya Jones knocked down a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to put UTA on top 18-10 after one quarter of play.
The Lady Mavs would maintain a six-point lead throughout the early goings of the second quarter, but a 9-2 run in a five minutes stretch catapulted Troy into the lead at 27-26. A Smith free throw evened the game at 27 going into the break.
However, Troy continued to frustrate UTA on the offensive end in the second half. With the game tied at 33 in the third quarter, Troy went on a backbreaking 10-0 run to open up a 10-point lead at 43-33. Six of the 10 points for the Trojans came at the free throw line.
Milton used a 3-point play to cut it to seven and make it a 43-36 game going into the fourth. However, it was as close as the Lady Mavs could get as they could not muster a run and fell 59-48.
BOX SCORE NUGGETS
- The Lady Mavs started the game 7 of 14 (.500) in the first seven minutes of the game. They went on to go 11-for-56 (.196) the rest of the way.
- UTA pulled down a season-high in rebounds with 45 and offensive rebounds with 18.
- After finishing with 20 or more fast break points in back-to-back conference games, the Lady Mavs only had four fast break points on Saturday.
- Troy finished 0 of 12 from behind the arc, snapping a consecutive streak of 298 games with at least one 3-pointer.
- The Lady Mavs forced 18 Troy turnovers and finished with nine steals as a team led by four from Milton and three from Benjamin.
- UTA finished with a season-low 24 points in the paint. It is the first time this season they finished with under 30 points in the paint.
NOTABLES
- Troy has won two straight over the Lady Mavs and snapped a three-game losing streak inside the College Park Center.
- UTA saw their four-game home winning streak snapped. It was only their seventh SBC loss inside the CPC since 2016-17.
- Terryn Milton is the first player this season to go for a double-double. Her 10 rebounds are a new career-high.
- UTA's 21 second half points matches a season-low
- The Lady Mavs held Troy to 59 points, their lowest offensive output of the season. The Trojans came in averaging 82.2 points per game.
- The Lady Mavs finishes with 11 team assists and are now 1-3 when they finish with more turnovers (12) than assists (11). They are also 1-3 when they finished with less than 15 team assists.
- UTA did celebrate alumni day as they welcomed in 10 former Lady Mavs.
QUOTABLES
"Give credit to Troy. They had their game plan ready to go. I think tonight's game came down to possessions in rebounding and making shots. I feel like we are a much better team than how we played tonight and we will rebound." -
Shereka Wright
NEXT UP
UTA will play five of their next six contests on the road beginning on Thursday, Jan. 13 as they head to Atlanta to take on Georgia State. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT.
Gallery: (1-8-2022) Women's Basketball vs. Troy
