ARLINGTON, Texas --- The UT Arlington women's basketball team (7-10, 1-4 WAC) lost a 77-75 heartbreaker to Grand Canyon (12-4, 4-1 WAC) inside the College Park Center on Thursday.
The Antelopes got the game-winning points on a pair of free throws from Laila McLeod with 2.2 seconds remaining, which came 2.4 seconds after
Jireh Washington knotted the game at 75 apiece with two free throws of her own.
The Lady Mavs had battled back from a 70-62 deficit with a 9-0 run over a 1:16 stretch, capped by a big defensive play from
Kayla White, who deflected a pass, which ended up in the hands of
Starr Jacobs, who completed a three-point play with 1:38 left to give her team a 71-70 lead.
"What a great environment to be in tonight with two really good teams playing," UT Arlington head coach
Shereka Wright said. "I thought both teams did a really good job of going back and forth and competing. I know that we've been dealing with some adversity, and that is the team I wanted to see tonight. This is only going to help us in the long run. This is a really good conference. I hated that it had to end that way, but I understand there were things that happened throughout the game that cost us, but I am so proud of our effort and balanced scoring and how we didn't give up."
Five straight free throws from Grand Canyon gave the visitors a four-point lead with 20 seconds left, but
Alexsyah Goudeau's second-chance layup pulled UT Arlington within two. The defense then forced a five-second violation, which set up Washington's game-tying free throws.
A balanced scoring effort for the Lady Mavs saw White produce a team-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting along with three rebounds, three steals and two assists. It took her just six minutes and 48 seconds to reach double-figures in the opening quarter on a trio of 3-pointers and a pull-up, mid-range bucket.
Jacobs added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists while Washington (12) and
Kamaria Gipson (10) combined for 22. Washington added five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Shyia Smith led the Lady Mavs on the glass with eight rebounds while
Nya Threatt dished out a season-best seven assists.
For Gipson, it was her third game in double-digits this year, including her first since Nov. 12.
Grand Canyon, who lost their leading scorer, Tiarra Brown, to an injury after 10 minutes of action, got a game-high 24 points and six assists from Naudia Evans. Olivia Lane (14) and Dominique Phillips (12) combined for 26 off the bench before both fouled out late. Evan Zars contributed a game-high 14 rebounds.
In a back-and-forth opening quarter, the Antelopes led by six early before the Lady Mavs answered to eventually take a 21-17 lead with 1:54 remaining. A free throw from Goudeau helped UT Arlington take a one-point lead into the second quarter, where neither team led by more than three until a 3-pointer from Emma Krueger gave the visitors a 39-33 lead with 51 seconds left. A bucket in the paint from Jacobs trimmed the halftime margin to four.
GCU took a pair of seven-point leads late in the third quarter before a 3-pointer from Evans pushed the margin to eight entering the fourth. The lead became as many as nine with 5:40 left before the Lady Mavs rallied down the stretch.
UT Arlington will be back in action on Saturday at Tarleton at 2 p.m.
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