ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington women's basketball team (14-14, 10-8 WAC) was defeated 81-77 by Seattle U (5-22, 5-13 WAC) inside the College Park Center on Thursday evening.
 
Despite having a better field goal percentage and three-point percentage than the Redhawks for the game, the Lady Mavs could not overcome a 12-for-25 night from the free throw line. UTA shot 46.8-percent from the field compared to Seattle U's 43.9-percent, while shooting 46.7-percent from deep compared to the Redhawks 30-percent from beyond the arc. Seattle U's 80.6-percent from the charity stripe proved to be the deciding factor.
 
The Lady Mavs had four of their five starters register double digits on the offensive end, led by Taliyah Clark who led all scorers with 23 points and tied her season-high with five triples made on the evening. Clark dished out a career high six assists against her former team while also securing three rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes of action.
 
Avery Brittingham finished with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting while pulling down six rebounds. Brittingham posted a career high four blocks in 26 minutes of play despite some early foul trouble. She also had two assists and two steals on the night.
 
Adela Valkova and Nya Threatt each finished with 11 points for the game. Valkova shot an impressive 5-for-8 from the floor while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds and having one assist in 25 minutes. Threatt snagged four rebounds while tossing out five assists and having two steals in 31 minutes. Gia Adams finished with eight points and six assists in a team-high 37 minutes.
 
Despite shooting 54.5-percent from the field in the first quarter, the Lady Mavs found themselves heading into the second quarter trailing by 12, 25-13. That changed in the second when they went on their best scoring run of the game, a 12-0 run to tie up the game at 25 points apiece. UTA's stout second quarter defense held the Redhawks scoreless for the first five minutes of the quarter, and held them to just 12 points which was the lowest scoring quarter of the game for Seattle U. The Lady Mavs went into the half down one, 37-36.
 
The second half was a wild west shootout, with UTA tying it up four times and taking the lead three times in the third quarter alone. The third ended with a Threatt three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Redhawk lead down to two, 58-56. The Lady Mavs would tie it up at 58 points apiece at the start of the fourth before Seattle would take the lead for good with nine minutes to go and would go up by as many as 10. 
 
UTA managed to cut it down to three after a Clark deep ball with 38 seconds left. But after a loose ball was scooped up by Seattle, they would hit a three-pointer to effectively end the game.


 
Tonight was the 5th game ever for the Lady Mavs on February 29th. They now hold a 3-2 record on the leap day:
 
1992: 78-69 win over ULM in Texas Hall
1996: 70-56 win over UTSA in Texas Hall
2012: 74-54 loss to Texas A&M-CC in Corpus Christi
2020: 101-73 win over Georgia Southern in CPC
2024: 81-77 loss to Seattle U in CPC
 
This also marks the second time the Redhawks have visited the CPC, walking away victorious both times, the first time coming back in 2013. UTA is now 2-4 all-time against Seattle U.


 
NEXT UP
The Lady Mavs final home game of the 2023-24 campaign takes place on Saturday, March 2, when they welcome Utah Valley to the College Park Center for the first time. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. central time.
   
FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the women's basketball program on Twitter (@UTAMavsWBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsWBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsWBB).