ARLINGTON, Texas --- The UT Arlington women's basketball team (7-8, 1-2) fell victim to University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's (7-7, 1-2) hot shooting in an 83-73 loss inside the College Park Center on Wednesday.
 
The Vaqueros finished 9-of-23 from long distance en route to a season-high in points while the trio of Iyana Dorsey (career-high 31), Mele Kailahi (22) and Deborah Ogayemi (12) combined for 65 alone. Dorsey and Kailahi combined to shoot 8-of-16 from long distance, and the visitors went 19-of-27 from the line as a team in the second half alone. They also held a 44-29 overall advantage in rebounding.

"I want to give credit to UTRGV," UT Arlington head coach Shereka Wright said. "They came in here hungry for a win. That showed with their play. They were the most aggressive. They wanted it more. We started off very well, and then we just let the wheels fall off of us. The bottom line is within basketball is energy and effort has to play that part. We didn't rebound. We didn't get stops when we needed to. UTRGV did what they needed to and got a win tonight."
 
The Lady Mavs had a strong performance in the opening quarter, shooting 11-of-18 and dishing out nine assists as a team. They led by as many as 12 before settling for a 25-16 advantage as Shyia Smith tied her career-high with four assists in the quarter alone.


 
Taleyah Jones (6) and Starr Jacobs (4) then combined for 10 points in the second quarter as UT Arlington took a 42-36 lead into the break.
 
In the third quarter, however, the Vaqueros shot 8-of-16 from the field and outrebounded the Lady Mavs 13-6 to produce a 22-12 scoring advantage in the frame. They took their first lead with 3:41 left and never trailed again. Ogayemi, who finished with a double-double, tallied 10 of her team's 22 points over that stretch.
 
Dorsey then exploded for 15 points in the fourth quarter, drawing five fouls and finishing 9-of-10 from the line en route to her career-best as the Vaqueros led by as many as 17.
 
Jacobs finished with a team-high 16 points for the Lady Mavs while adding four rebounds, three steals and two assists. It was her fifth straight game in double-digits, her 13th of the season and the 41st of her UTA career. Kayla White added 14 points and four rebounds for her eighth double-figure scoring effort over the past nine outings, as well as her fourth straight and 10th overall.
 
Jireh Washington tallied 12 points, a team-high six rebounds and a team-high five assists. Her streak of consecutive free throws made was snapped at 12, but she produced her third game this year with at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists while eclipsing 50 distributions on the season.
 
Jones, who was the fourth player in double-figures with 11, finished 2-of-4 from long distance. She has made at least one 3-pointer in six of the past seven outings, and her total on Wednesday tied her season-high. It was also her fifth game overall with 10+ points.
 
De'Sha Benjamin, who finished with eight points, chipped in her 19th and 20th assists of the season. She is just 11 shy of 100 in her career. In addition to her four assists, Smith tallied three steals to tie Jacobs for the team-high.
 
UT Arlington, which is now 7-3 all-time against UTRGV, will be back in action on the road Saturday at Abilene Christian at 1 p.m. It will be the first meeting between the two programs since 2013 and just the second since 1987. The Wildcats are coached by Julie (Roewe) Goodenough, who scored 649 career points for the Lady Mavs from 1989-91 after transferring in from Western Texas College.
 
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