Stephen F. Austin
Texas-Arlington
Lady Mavs Escape Nacogdoches with Win
1/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks and the Texas-Arlington Lady Mavs were two of eight Southland Conference teams that entered Wednesday night tied for first place in the league standings. After the dust settled in Nacogdoches, it was the Lady Mavs that clung to a 76-65 decision, while SFA fell a game back in the loss column. The setback dropped SFA to 7-9 on the season, and 2-2 in Southland Conference play.
After knocking down their first two shots, and taking a 5-0 lead, the Ladyjacks responded by going on a 22-7 run to take a 10-point lead with 11:25 remaining in the half. Although it would be the largest lead of the game until the final 23 seconds, it didn't last very long.
UTA methodically chipped away at the Ladyjack advantage with clutch shooting, and a strong presence in the low post. The Lady Mavs connected on 19-of-34 (.559) of their shots in the first half, including a 4-of-7 (.571) clip from beyond the arc. While the Lady Mavs' Shalyn Martin and Candice Champion struggled offensively early, UTA's Meghan Nelson more than picked up the slack scoring 15 of her game-high 23 points in the first 20 minutes.
UTA outscored SFA 18-8 in the paint in the first half and rallied to tie the game at 32 with 4:45 remaining. The Lady Mavs took a 42-38 lead into the locker room.
UTA scored the first bucket of the half, but the Ladyjacks immediately retaliated cutting the lead to a point. The game remained close throughout the second half due in large part to senior Natashia Green who came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points, including three treys.
SFA seemed poised to make a run and reclaim the lead but momentum was handed to Texas-Arlington due in large part the two SFA technical fouls within a 3:13 time span. The Lady Mavs sank 3-of-the-4 foul shots, and pushed a one-point lead to seven-point with 12:08 remaining.
The Ladyjacks didn't give up, battling back to cut the deficit to four points, 67-63, on an Ebony Alexander jumper. SFA would not be able to get any closer as the visitors recorded a field goal, and knocked down 3-of-4 free throws in the final 73 seconds of the game.
Freshman Tammara Marion finished the game with 12 points, while sophomore Jordan Ford added 10 points and three rebounds. Freshman Amina Sawyer recorded six points and a team-high eight rebounds. Champion finished the night with 22 points and eight rebounds for UTA, while Erin Dixon added seven points and 11 rebounds.
The Ladyjacks return to action Saturday when they host Southeastern Louisiana at 6 p.m. in the William R. Johnson Coliseum.
