LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The fifth-seeded UT Arlington women's basketball team knocked off the eighth-seeded Southern Utah Thunderbirds in the opening round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament by a final score of 67-53 from inside the Orleans Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
 
With the win, the Lady Mavs advance to the WAC quarterfinals where they will meet the fourth-seeded Utah Tech Trailblazers on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. central time.
 
Senior forward Avery Brittingham led all scorers with 21 points. She ended the game with 11 rebounds, marking her 11th double-double of the season. Brittingham also finished with a game-high five steals, matching her career-high as well as dishing out three assists and having one block in 38 minutes of play.
 
Junior guard Gia Adams finished with 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the floor along with three rebounds and one assist in 27 minutes of action. Nya Threatt chipped in with 11 points to go along with four rebounds, four assists and one steal. Keiori Lee came off the bench and pulled down a career-high eight rebounds to go along with two assists and two points.
 
The Lady Mavs came out and controlled the flow of the game from the start, registering the first points of the contest after winning the opening jumpball. Southern Utah would go on to tie the game and take the lead after making the free throw on the backend of the and one. 
 
The very next possession, the Lady Mavs would reclaim the lead on a made second-chance three-pointer from Threatt to go up by two, 5-3. The Thunderbirds would tie the game up one last time on the next possession before Adams would rattle off five straight points for the Lady Mavs to retake the lead for good. The first quarter ended with UTA up by eight, 22-14.
 
The Lady Mavs would go up by double digits in the second and would remain that way throughout the quarter as they would limit Southern Utah to just nine second-quarter points.
 
In the third quarter, the Lady Mavs would push their lead to the largest of the game at 20 points with a little over five minutes left in the period. 
 
A scary moment occurred in the opening minute of the fourth quarter as Adams went down with an apparent ankle injury and had to be helped off the court and would not return for the duration of the game. 
 
The Lady Mavs steadied the ship and kept the defensive pressure on the Thunderbirds, holding Southern Utah to just one field goal on their last eight attempts of the game. UTA's lead never got below 14 points for the entire second half.
 


BOX SCORE NUGGETS

• UTA turned the ball over 11 times, tied for their third fewest turnovers in a game on the season.
• The Lady Mavs had two blocks on the game, marking their 29th game registering at least one block.
• UTA scored 17 points off turnovers compared to Southern Utah's 6.
• The Lady Mavs had 17 fast break points compared to the Thunderbirds 2.
• UTA outscored Southern Utah in the paint, 34-22.
• Southern Utah's bench outscored the Lady Mavs bench, 11-6.
• Southern Utah only led for 19 seconds in the game.
• Despite foul trouble, Adela Valkova finished with five rebounds, four points, one block, one steal and one assist.
• Taliyah Clark finished with six points, four assists and two rebounds.
• The Lady Mavs shot 41-percent from the field for the game compared to Southern Utah's 34.4-percent.

 
NOTABLES

• The Lady Mavs are now 1-3 in the WAC Tournament, picking up their first win of the tournament in program history.
• UTA moves to the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament for the first time ever.
• UTA won all three matchups with Southern Utah on the season.
• The Lady Mavs move to 5-0 all-time over Southern Utah.
• Gia Adams now has double digit points in 24 of 31 games this season, making it three straight games and 14 out of the 15 games.
• Adams and Brittingham outscored the Thunderbirds in the first half, 30-23.

 
NEXT UP
UTA will take on No. 4 Utah Tech on Thursday, Mar. 14, at 2 p.m. central time inside the Orleans Arena.
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