ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington women's basketball team (13-12, 9-6 WAC) displayed dominance throughout the entirety of the game on the way to a 71-55 win over UT Rio Grande Valley (5-18, 4-10 WAC) on Saturday afternoon inside the College Park Center.
The 16-point margin of victory is the fifth largest margin this season for the Lady Mavs, and fourth largest from inside the CPC.
UTA had three players in double figures led by
Taliyah Clark who finished with 22 points on 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-7 from deep as well as a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. She also grabbed three rebounds and dished out three assists. The three assists tie her season-high in conference play. She also finished with two blocks, which ties her season high.
Gia Adams remained on fire, dropping 19 points on an impressive 9-of-12 from the floor while hitting one three pointer. This marks her 11th straight game producing double digits in scoring, and 19th game overall on the season. She tied her conference-high in rebounds by securing five while passing out three assists. She also had two steals on the game.
Avery Brittingham chipped in with 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting and 3-for-5 from the free throw line. This marks her sixth straight game in double figures and her 22nd game overall on the year. She pulled down four rebounds as well as dishing out one assist, her 100th assist of the season. Defensively, she finished with one block and one steal.
Nya Threatt pulled down six boards and had five assists in 19 minutes. Adela Valkova finished with five points, pulled down six rebounds and added to her league-leading blocks total, adding two more today. This marks the fourth game in a row that she has notched two blocks.
Kali Haizlip added seven points off the bench for the Lady Mavs while pulling down six boards and getting one block.
Miraya Perkins finished with four points as well as picking up her first collegiate block.
Despite a sloppy start with neither team registering a bucket for the first two minutes and five seconds, the Lady Mavs recorded the first three buckets and one free throw before the Vaqueros got on the board. UTA would go up by as many as 14 points in the first quarter and kept the defensive pressure on UTRGV, limiting the Vaqueros to seven points in the quarter.
The Lady Mavs would push their lead up to 24 in the second quarter and continued with their hot shooting, going 9-for-16 for 56.3-percent for the quarter which was their best quarter for the game. UTA would head into the locker room for halftime with a 19-point lead.
In the third quarter, the Lady Mavs would see their largest lead of the game, going up 27 with about three and a half minutes left in the third. The fourth quarter was the worst quarter of the game for the Lady Mavs, registering 11 points but were able to maintain their double-digit lead thanks to some tough defense and timely shots.
As a team, the Lady Mavs outscored the Vaqueros in the paint, 34 to 28, and had 12 fast break points compared to UTRGV's zero. UTA's bench also outscored UTRGV's, 14 to 8.
NEXT UP
The Lady Mavs hit the road once again, as they travel to Utah for a pair of games in the beehive state. First will be at Southern Utah on Wednesday, Feb. 21, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. central time. UTA ends the road trip at Utah Tech on Saturday, Feb. 24, with tipoff slated for 3 p.m. central time.
– #BuckEm –
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