PENSACOLA, Fla. – The No. 2 seed UT Arlington women's basketball team knocked off the No. 7 seed Georgia Southern Eagles in the Sun Belt Conference Quarterfinals inside the Pensacola Bay Center on Friday evening.
With the win, UTA advances to the SBC Semifinals where they will meet the No. 3 seed Louisiana on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Junior
Starr Jacobs scored 28 points on the night, while senior
Terryn Milton scored 15 points with five rebounds and four assists. Senior
Claire Chastain scored 14 points, including three 3-pointers, to go with two assists and two blocks, while senior
Katie Ferrell had 11 points with six rebounds and five assists.
Senior
De'Sha Benjamin scored nine off the bench, while senior
Shyia Smith scored eight points with seven rebounds.
Taya Gibson scored 16 points with 10 rebounds, while Terren Ward scored 13 points and seven boards.
Chastain opened the contest with her first of three 3-pointers to take the early lead. UTA pushed that lead to 10-4 on points from Milton, Jacobs, and Smith, but Georgia Southern closed the gap to four.
UTA then bolstered a 10-2 run behind five points from Benjamin, including a 3-pointer, as well as free throws from Jacobs and Smith. The Eagles closed the quarter out with the final four points as the Lady Mavs took a 20-14 lead into the end of the quarter.
After Georgia Southern opened the second quarter with a bucket, UTA went on a 10-0 run including a pair of 3-pointers from Ferrel and Chastain to open up a 30-14 lead. The Eagles scored the next five points before a three-point play from Ferrell pushed it back to 14.
Georgia Southern scored 10 of the final 14 points to climb back into the game and make it an eight point contest, but UTA was firmly in control, leading 37-29.
UTA exploded out of the gates in the third quarter behind a pair of Jacobs lay-ups sandwiched between a Ferrell 3-pointer to push the lead to 15. UTA completely overwhelmed Georgia Southern in the third quarter, especially on the defensive end, coming up with numerous steals from Jacobs and Milton leading to transition buckets to push the lead to 20.
The Eagles used a 10-2 to cut the deficit back down to 12, but UTA closed the quarter strong, pushing it as high as 15 and leading 65-52 going into the fourth quarter.
UTA rode Jacobs and maintained complete command of the game. However, the Lady Mavs hit a cold spell in the last five minutes as a 13-4 Georgia Southern run made it a six point game with 1:25 to play.
However, UTA was clutch down the stretch at the free throw line to close out the game and earn the 85-76 win.
BOX SCORE NUGGETS
- UTA got to the free throw line a season-high 40 times, converting on 31 made free throws (.775), the most they've made since 2019.
- Starr Jacobs got to the line 14 times on her own, making 10 on the evening.
- The Lady Mavs were 6 of 16 (.375) from beyond the arc. They are 4-0 this season when making 6 or more 3-pointers.
- Georgia Southern's bench was terrific, outscoring a shorthanded Lady Mavs squad, 46-9.
- The Eagles outrebounded the Lady Mavs 46-39 on the evening.
- Georgia Southern only led for 34 seconds in the game.
- UTA only turned it over two times in the second half.
NOTABLES
- The Lady Mavs are now 3-7 in the SBC Tournament and snap a string of five losses in their last six games in their first game of the tournament.
- UTA also avenged a heartbreaking loss to Georgia Southern earlier this season, falling 64-63 in Statesboro.
- UTA appears in the SBC Semifinals for only the third time in school history and the first time since 2018-19.
- The Lady Mavs improve to 10-2 all-time over Georgia Southern.
- Starr Jacobs now has 20 or more points in 14 games this season.
- Jacobs scored 21 points in the second half, while Terryn Milton poured in 10.
- Claire Chastain's three 3-pointers were a season-high.
QUOTABLES
"Give credit to Georgia Southern, who had a great year. They took the punch to us every possession. Our kids were resilient. They played with energy and with a chip on their shoulders. We played like a No. 2 seed today. We took care of business and looking forward to the next match-up." -
Shereka Wright
"You come out here and you are fighting for your life. Tonight we just let it fly. Our teammates fed into that and gave us a lot of confidence. We were feeding into each other all night." - Claire Chastain
"I have to see what works for me in the game. (The injury) kind of made me mad. They're a good team, but I used their aggression to my advantage" -
Starr Jacobs
Gallery: (3-4-2022) WBB Sun Belt Tournament Quarterfinals
NEXT UP
UTA will take on No. 3 Louisiana on Sunday, March 6 at 2 p.m. inside the Pensacola Bay Center.
FOLLOW ALONG
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