ARLINGTON – Led by a pair of double-doubles, the UT Arlington women's basketball team put on an offensive clinic as they rolled to an 88-79 win over Appalachian State on Sunday afternoon inside the College Park Center.
In a tumultuous week that saw practices canceled and the game moved from Saturday to Sunday, the Lady Mavs close a crazy week by moving to first place in the Sun Belt Conference as they move to 14-5 overall and 8-2 in the conference.
Junior
Starr Jacobs continued her reign of dominance as she scored 33 points to go with 10 boards, four steals, three assists, and a block to notch her first double-double in a Lady Mav uniform. Senior
Terryn Milton added an 18 point outing with a season-high 10 assists, five boards, and two steals.
Senior
De'Sha Benjamin scored 12 off the bench, while senior
Shyia Smith added 11 points and eight boards, including five offensive rebounds. Senior
Claire Chastain had an excellent all-around day with nine points, seven assists, six rebounds, and two steals, while senior
Katie Ferrell had five points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
Emily Carver led App State off the bench with 21 points, while Janay Sanders scored 16. Faith Alston had 15 points and seven assists, while Alexis Allesch had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
App State jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead, starting fast and moving in transition, but Jacobs went to work scoring six of the next eight points for UTA followed shortly by a 3-pointer from Milton to take an 11-8 lead. App State pushed back ahead and would hold a 15-14 lead, but UTA got a fast break bucket from Milton and a 3-pointer from Chastain to open up a 21-17 lead.
App State scored the final five points of the quarter to lead 22-21 going into the second.
Jacobs would completely take over the second quarter, dominating the paint as part of a massive 13-0 run to push UTA ahead 38-28. App State had no answer for the superstar Jacobs as she commanded the ball and scored 12 in the quarter to help UTA take a 44-34 lead into the break.
The Lady Mavs would ride Jacobs, along with points from Benjamin, Smith, and Milton to build their biggest lead of the contest at 56-40 midway through the third quarter. App State responded with a much needed 8-0 run to cut the deficit down in half, but Ferrell knocked down a huge 3-pointer to get the lead back to 11. The Mountaineers scored the final four points to make it a 60-53 game going into the fourth.
The Lady Mavs threw the first punch of a wild final period as they scored the first six points behind Jacobs, Chastain, and Benjamin to push the lead back to 13. However, App State scored the next six to get it right back down to a seven point game with under seven to play.
UTA pushed it back to 10 after a massive lay-in from Smith, drawing the foul in the process. After a three on the App State end and a Jacobs bucket kept the lead at nine, App State knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the game to 71-68 with 4:23 to play.
The two teams would battle back-and-forth as App State got it as close as two with 2:37 to play.
However, with the game at 74-71 with two to play, Jacobs put the game to rest with a strong drive, drawing the foul plus the basket to push the lead back to six at 77-71. App State would battle, but could never get it back to one possession as UTA used free throws the rest of the way to finish off App State and take the 88-79 victory.
BOX SCORE NUGGETS
- UTA shot 31 of 64 (.484) in the game, including a red-hot 13 of 24 (.541) in the second half.
- The Lady Mavs got to the free throw line 28 times, converting on 21 (.750).
- UTA was 9 of 10 in the final minute at the free throw line, including seven makes from Terryn Milton.
- Claire Chastain was excellent on the afternoon, finishing with a +/- of +20.
- Jacobs scored 20 of her 33 points in the first half. It is the third time this season she has scored 20 points in a half.
- For the third straight game, UTA outrebounded its opponent, dominating the boards at 46-32, including 13 offensive rebounds. UTA is 5-0 when outrebounding its opponent.
- UTA's 20 turnovers are a season-high and the first time this season the Lady Mavs have eclipsed 20.
- However, UTA's 26 assists is a season-high and the fourth most in a single contest.
NOTABLES
- Starr Jacobs is averaging 29.2 points per game in her last four contests. Jacobs now has 11 games with 20 or more points, including seven in SBC play.
- It is Jacobs' first double-double with UTA.
- Terryn Milton is the first Lady Mav with 10 or more assists since her teammate Katie Ferrell did it on Dec. 13, 2020, against St. Edward's.
- It is Milton's third time in her career eclipsing 10 or more assists and the second time she has done it against App State. She had 10 against the Mountaineers on Jan. 9, 2020.
- Milton tied Paige Smithers-Wojciak for fourth all-time in career assists at 366.
- Katie Ferrell knocked down another 3-pointer on Sunday afternoon to go 11 of 18 (.611) in her last seven games.
- Claire Chastain's seven assists is a new career-high.
- UTA has won five straight games for the first time under Head Coach Shereka Wright and the first time since 2019-20.
- The Lady Mavs are now 14-1 all-time against App State and avenge last year's quarterfinal defeat in the SBC Tournament.
QUOTABLES
"I give credit to Appalachian State. They are a tough team. I knew they were not going away and there was a reason they were sitting where they were. I want to give the credit to my team. We understood what we needed to do at the end of the day. My biggest thing was making a statement and we want to continue to make statements and understand what we do very well. I am proud with how we did today and proud of the response" -
Shereka Wright
"I feel like (getting the opponents best) opens up the opportunity for my teammates. When our shooters are on, we're on. So if they double me, it just leaves someone else open... or I get an and one." -
Starr Jacobs
"It's super fun. We have a really good team and love to play freely. It's very fun to play with this team. When we are going like that, I don't know a lot of teams that can handle that." -
Terryn Milton
NEXT UP
UTA continues their home trip on Thursday as they will welcome in ULM for Kids Day. It will be an early tip-off with things getting underway at 11:30 a.m.
Gallery: (2-6-2022) Women's Basketball vs. App State
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