ARLINGTON, Texas --- Starr Jacobs had a magical night inside the College Park Center on Thursday night, producing career-bests in points (35) and rebounds (20) in addition to eclipsing 1,000 career points as the senior forward engineered the UT Arlington women's basketball team (12-14, 6-8 WAC) to the best offensive performance in program history in a 106-102 win in double overtime over Sam Houston (11-12, 7-6 WAC).
 
"What a fun game to be a part of, two great teams battling back and forth, but credit goes to this team for not quitting," UT Arlington head coach Shereka Wright said. "We got contributions from a lot of players tonight. I'm just proud of them."
 
Jacobs, who became the first player in UT Arlington women's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points in just two seasons with her fifth point of the night, produced the fourth-most points, the third most made free throws (13) and the fourth most minutes (49) while recording the 13th 20-rebound effort in Lady Mav annals. She also pushed her WAC-high double-double total in conference play to six.
   
In addition to Jacobs, Jireh Washington came within one assist of registering the 10th triple-double in WAC history. Instead, she tied a season-high with 22 points, pulled down a career-best 12 rebounds and dished out nine assists - two shy of matching her career-high. It was her 16th all-time 20-plus point outing, her third career double-digit rebounding effort and the second double-double of her career. On top of that, she finished 10-of-11 from the foul line, narrowly missing becoming the first player in program history to finish at least 11-of-11 from the charity stripe.
 
As far as team records, the Lady Mavs established new single-game highs for points (106) and largest combined score (208). They also tied for the second most field goal attempts (84), free throws made (31) and free throws attempted (41) while matching the fourth-best total for field goals made (37).
 
Early on, despite three ties, the Lady Mavs didn't trail over the game's first 14 minutes until Sam Houston's Mikayla Woods made two free throws for a 30-28 lead with 5:56 left in the half. Then, over the final minute of the half alone, the teams combined for two ties and four lead changes, culminating in a thrilling tip-in at the buzzer by Jacobs to give UTA a 45-44 lead.
 
Following a layup from Taleyah Jones that stretched the margin to three to open the second half, UT Arlington led the entire third quarter, matching their largest lead of the game (6) on two occasions before a pair of free throws from Washington helped them take a 67-64 lead into the fourth.
   
Jones then buried UTA's only 3-pointer of the game to open the fourth, pushing the lead back to six, but Sam Houston's Chyna Allen and Kaylee Jefferson sank back-to-back 3-pointers to conclude a 7-0 run that gave the Bearkats a 75-72 lead with 5:32 left in regulation. Following that, both teams went scoreless for nearly the next three minutes until Jacobs and Washington combined for four straight as the Lady Mavs led by one with 1:24 left.
 
Moments later, though, Tierney Coleman gave the visitors an 80-78 lead with 20 seconds left. Her teammate, Sydnee Kemp, responded by accidentally fouling Washington as she corralled the inbounds pass. The graduate senior point guard calmly sank both free throws to tie the game, and Coleman missed the potential game-winner on the other end as the game went to overtime.
 
Coleman scored her team's first five points in the first extra session, helping the Bearkats eventually take a 90-84 lead with 55 seconds left. Despite that, Washington responded with a layup, and Jacobs sank 4-of-4 from the line over the final 30 seconds to force a second overtime as the Lady Mavs got several defensive stops down the stretch.
 
A three-point play from Kayla White with 2:51 left in double OT gave UT Arlington a 99-94 lead. Moments later, a free throw from Jacobs put the Lady Mavs at the century mark. After Kemp pulled Sam Houston within two with 17 seconds left, the rookie duo of Jones and Alexsyah Goudeau sealed the game from the charity stripe.
 
The Bearkats finished 3-of-8 from the foul line in the second overtime alone.
 
In all, UTA finished with a season-high 64 points in the paint, topping their 52 against Texas A&M - Commerce in November. The game featured 13 ties and 10 lead changes, and the Lady Mavs led for just under 33 minutes in the game. Seven total players fouled out, led by four from Sam Houston, including three starters.
 
White contributed 19 points, four rebounds and three steals, narrowly missing her fifth 20-point outing over the past six contests. Jones added 16 points, a season-high seven rebounds, four assists and a season-high two blocks. Kamaria Gipson (6), De'Sha Benjamin (4), Nicole Sanfilippo (2) and Goudeau (2) rounded out the scoring.
 
The Bearkats finished with six players in double-figures, led by 20 from Kemp and 17 apiece from Coleman and Allen. Raanee Smith added 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Woods tallied 14 points. Jefferson chipped in 10 points and a team-high six assists.
 
UT Arlington will be back in action at 2 p.m. against Abilene Christian on Saturday in the College Park Center. The visiting Wildcats are coached by former Lady Mav, Julie (Roewe) Goodenough. The game will also be aired on ESPN3 instead of ESPN+.
 
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