ARLINGTON, Texas ---The UT Arlington women's basketball team (6-6) was defeated 78-59 by No. 16 Arizona (10-1) inside the College Park Center (CPC) on Wednesday in the team's non-conference finale.
The loss represented the first at home this year (4-1) for the Lady Mavs, who will open Western Athletic Conference (WAC) play on Dec. 29 at California Baptist. They'll be back at home on Dec. 31 at 4 p.m. against Tarleton.
"I was excited to get another ranked team here on our home floor and for our fans to see two quality teams play today … It was just good for us to get some familiar faces back," UT Arlington head coach
Shereka Wright said. "Jireh has been out for some time. We're still trying to gel. Kayla has been out, too. I'm proud of our kids right now, sitting at 6-6 after a very difficult non-conference schedule."
A layup from
Shyia Smith pulled the Lady Mavs within 10-8 with 4:48 left in the opening quarter, but Arizona went on a 19-0 run over the next 6:57 to seize control of the game. The margin was trimmed to as few as 15 multiple times, but the visiting Wildcats won their third-straight game.
Starr Jacobs had another solid performance for UT Arlington as the senior forward registered game-highs in points (15), steals (4) and blocks (2) while adding five boards and an assist on 7-of-11 shooting.
Kayla White returned after missing two of the past three games with 13 points, five rebounds, a game-high four assists and two steals.
Taleyah Jones added 12 points and a steal.
Jacobs tallied at least 11 points for the ninth time over the past 10 games, while Jones reached double-digits for the third time over the past four outings. In fact, the freshman is the team's leading scorer in the month of December at 13.8 per game. White, meanwhile, notched her seventh game with 10+ points in 10 outings this year.
Another positive in Wednesday's game was the return of
Jireh Washington, the team's starting point guard and leading scorer before injury sidelined her after the Nov. 26 game against Toledo. She tallied six points and two assists in 15 minutes.
Offensively, the Lady Mavs made their final 16 free throws of the game after starting 0-for-6. Defensively, against a team that entered the game sixth in the nation in turnover margin, UTA had a +2 advantage after forcing 23. That total was tied for the second-most they've forced in a game this year.
Arizona represented the third nationally-ranked opponent UT Arlington has faced this year, including then No. 16 Oklahoma on Nov. 20 and then No. 19 Baylor on Dec. 7. They are 0-3 in those contests.
The loss drops UT Arlington to 0-2 all-time against Arizona, who picked up a 68-66 neutral site win on Dec. 1, 1989 in the only other meeting.
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