ARLINGTON, Texas ---
Taleyah Jones poured in a season-high 30 points to help lead the UT Arlington women's basketball team (6-5) to a 71-67 come-from-behind victory over Texas A&M – Texarkana (8-2) inside the College Park Center on Sunday afternoon.
The visiting Eagles took a 67-64 lead on a jumper from Yasmine Arogunjo with 3:04 remaining, but the Lady Mavs closed the game on a 7-0 run to secure the victory. Jones scored four of those seven, including a layup with just over two minutes left and a pair of free throws with 51 seconds left that extended the lead to three. On top of that, she assisted on the game-winning shot from
De'Sha Benjamin with 1:40 left.
"I give credit where credit is due," UT Arlington head coach
Shereka Wright said. "I want to stress the part where parity is growing in our game, and I love that. (Texas A&M – Texarkana) came in here with a great game plan and followed through with it. (On our side) we've had some adversity. We've had some players injured, some players sick and some playing different positions. No excuses but I understand it. I am proud of where this team is. I'm proud of how resilient they are and how tough they are because it's not easy to play the schedule that we've played. I'm thoroughly proud of this team."
Jones, who had a previous season-high of 11 points, matched that total in the fourth quarter alone with clutch basket after basket. The freshman guard finished 9-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-3 from long distance. She added four rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal while also finishing 10-of-10 from the foul line. In doing so, she tied the program's single-game percentage record and became just the fourth player to make that many without a miss.
"I was feeling it," Jones said. "That's really what it was. We started slow, so I wanted to step in that role, get us some points and get our energy going. I'm just proud of our team. Everyone contributed."
Starr Jacobs, who iced the game at the foul line with 20 seconds left, added 15 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists for her second double-double of the season. It was the sixth of her UTA career, and she's tallied 26 double-doubles in her collegiate career including her time at Temple College. On top of that, she matched her career-high rebound total that she originally established on Feb. 26 of last year against Arkansas State.
De'Sha Benjamin, who made the game-winning shot via a mid-range jumper from the right baseline, pulled down a season and UTA career-best 10 rebounds while adding eight points and a team-high four steals. It was the third overall double-digit rebounding effort of her career – including her time at Alabama – and she finished just one shy of matching her career high.
"This game was big for us," Wright said. "It started off very slow. We could not get in a rhythm, but
Taleyah Jones came in and gave us tremendous energy, and we fed off that. She played like an upperclassman today. She understands her role and wants to do anything she can to contribute to the team, and I'm thoroughly proud of that."
Texas A&M – Texarkana took the lead just under three minutes into the game on a layup from Emari Sidney, stretched the margin to as many as 13 with 1:32 left in the opening quarter and led by five at the half. In the third quarter, the Lady Mavs went on an 11-0 run over the span of 3:26 to re-capture the lead, 45-39. The Eagles responded, though, to take a 53-51 lead into the fourth on a buzzer-beating jumper from Sidney.
Jones nailed a jumper with 6:02 left in the game to briefly give the Lady Mavs the lead (61-59), but Texas A&M – Texarkana responded to take a pair of three-point leads in the final minutes, including the second one with 3:04 left.
In addition to the trio of Jones, Jacobs and Benjamin - who combined for 53 of the team's 71 points (or 74.6 percent) -
Shyia Smith (7),
Alexsyah Goudeau (6),
Jordyn Turner (3) and
Reniya Jones (2) rounded out the scoring.
Reniya Jones matched
Taleyah Jones for the team-high in assists (3), while Turner had one of the team's two blocks. Goudeau swiped three steals, which tied Jacobs for second on the team.
The Lady Mavs will now get a bit of a break in action before concluding non-conference play against No. 12 Arizona on Dec. 21 inside the CPC.
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