‘Jacks Fall to Mavericks

Saturday, January 6

Arlington, TX

2:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

9-6,3-1WAC

UT Arlington

6-8,2-2WAC

SFA

UT Arlington

1/6/2024 6:02:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Peter Trainor, Student Assistant for Strategic Communications

ARLINGTON, Texas- The Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team (9-6, 3-1) dropped their first conference game of the season 81-62 to the UTA Mavericks (6-8, 2-2) in a Saturday afternoon road matchup.

SFA was looking to continue their strong start to conference play as they traveled for their second road conference game of the season when they traveled to Arlington to face-off with the Mavericks. UTA got the scoring started in this one as they jumped out early by scoring the first four points of the game, before Tyler McCliment-Call continued to show off her range with a three-pointer three minutes into the first to get SFA on the board and cut the UTA lead to 4-3. Kyla Deck returned to the SFA lineup today and made her presence felt immediately as she knocked down a jumper five minutes into the quarter to give SFA a 5-4 lead. Avery Brittingham, the former Ladyjack, came out strong as she rattled off three straight points to give UTA the lead back 7-5. Brittingham helped spark a 9-0 Mavericks scoring run and UTA quickly found themselves ahead 13-5. However, the Ladyjacks would be the team to end the quarter on a strong note as Kyla Deck and Avery VanSickle continued the Ladyjacks strong shooting from downtown to end the quarter as they would hit back-to-back threes to cut the Mavericks lead down to 13-11 at the end of the first.

A 5-0 scoring run by the Mavericks would open up the second quarter and they would regain their multi possession lead at 18-11. However, the Ladyjacks would have an answer to the Mavericks scoring as they would go on a 6-0 scoring run thanks to jumpers from Tyler McCliment-Call, Lydia Cooke-Wiggins, and Kurstyn Harden to bring the deficit down to a single point at 18-17. The two schools would exchange baskets halfway through the second, before Lydia Cooke-Wiggins and Avery VanSickle would catch fire for SFA from downtown once again as they would hit back-to-back threes with four minutes left in the second to cut the UTA lead back to a single point once again at 26-25. A Kurstyn Harden fast-break layup would give SFA their first lead of the second quarter at 27-26 before the Mavericks would catch fire themselves thanks to a 12-0 scoring run and found themselves with a double-digit lead at 38-27 right before halftime. However, Kurstyn Harden showed off her shooting abilities right before the buzzer sounded as she drained a triple with less than 10 seconds left in the second to cut the UTA lead to 38-30 at halftime.

UTA would open up the scoring for the third consecutive quarter as they would hit a jumper just 15 seconds into the second half to regain their double-digit point lead at 40-30. Kurstyn Harden carried over her scoring from the second quarter with a strong and-one play to get SFA their first points of the second half. Trailing 46-35, SFA's three-point shooting came to life for the third consecutive quarter as Tyler McCliment-Call and Destini Lombard hit consecutive triples for the Ladyjacks to cut the UTA lead down to 46-41. Feeling SFA mounting a comeback, the Mavericks would mount a scoring run of their own with a 9-0 run to push their lead back to double-digits at 55-41. The two schools would exchange baskets, and free-throws over the final three minutes of the quarter as SFA still found themselves trailing 61-48 heading into the fourth.

Tyler McCliment-Call would drain her third triple of the game to open up the final quarter and bring SFA to within 10 points at 61-51. Destini Lombard would hit her second triple of the game to follow McCliment-Call's three minutes into the fourth to bring SFA to within a single digit deficit once again at 65-57. The Mavericks and Ladyjacks would exchange free-throws and baskets over the next two minutes before UTA would start to pull away late from SFA with a 7-0 scoring run over the next four minutes to take a commanding 79-61 lead. Lydia Cooke-Wiggins would hit a free-throw with thirty seconds left to close out the scoring for SFA as they would take a tough road loss to the Mavericks with a final score of 81-62.

Kurstyn Harden led the scoring for SFA as she posted a strong 19-point performance to lead all Ladyjacks in addition to pulling down four rebounds and handing out one assist. Tyler McCliment-Call continues her strong string of scoring for SFA as she posted 11-points as she led all Ladyjacks with three three-pointers and led the team by hauling down six rebounds, passing out two assists, and adding on one block and one steal. Lydia Cooke-Wiggins and Destini Lombard formed a dynamic duo for SFA as they combined to score 17 points, while grabbing seven rebounds, recording four assists, and a block and steal between them. Kyla Deck made her presence felt today in her return to the SFA lineup as she finished with nine points, two rebounds, while leading the team with three steals, and dished out a team-leading seven assists.

The Ladyjacks three-point shooting was on fire today as they drained 10 total triples today as six different Ladyjacks recorded at least one three-pointer today. The Ladyjack defense was able to turn six steals, and a pair of blocks into 20 points off turnovers, while getting solid production from their bench with 15 bench points. SFA recorded 18 points in the paint while having a strong day of offensive rebounding as they finished with 10 offensive rebounds in comparison to UTA's nine offensive rebounds.

Stephen F. Austin will carry an 9-6 overall record into their next game as they will return home to open up a two-game home stand starting on Thursday, January 11th at 6:30 p.m. CST when they play host to conference opponent Utah Tech at the Sawmill.