Feb. 25, 2009

Arlington, Texas - It was game where Head Coach Samantha Morrow knew would be tough to win at Texas Hall but with two 20-point performances by senior Candice Champion and sophomore Tamara Simmons all seemed to go the Mavericks way as they posted a 66-59 victory on Wednesday, February 25.

The victory improved the Mavs to 17-9 overall and 11-2 in conference action while Lamar fell to 18-8 on the season and 9-4 in league play.

"The win tonight was huge, we're very happy about it but there are still areas that we have to improve on," said Morrow. "They motivated themselves and seized the moment tonight and it was a great opportunity for us to make a statement about who we are."

With the Southland Conference Tournament three weeks away and four games remaining in the regular season, the UT Arlington Mavericks knew the importance of gaining a victory against Lamar University, a team in which they suffered a 65-60 loss earlier this season in Beaumont, Texas.

With the score tied for the second time at 5-5 in the first stanza, UTA went on a 6-0 run, taking an 11-5 lead at the 12:35 mark. Lamar connected on several buckets to come within one, at 13-12 with 10:41 left to play.

UT Arlington extended their lead to nine points after a 14-5 run, sparked by Simmons who scored seven of the 14 points. The Mavericks built a comfortable lead of 12 points with 57 seconds left before intermission but back-to-back jumpers by the Cardinals cut the deficit down to nine, at 33-24.

The Mavs finished the first half shooting 40 percent (12-of-30) from the floor to Lamar's 32 percent (8-of-25) from the field.

A layup by Lamar's Nikki Williams opened the second half, cutting the Mavericks lead to seven with 19:34 left to play. UTA went back on top by 11 following a pair of jumpers by Simmons and Dixon but Chrisan Petrovanie brought the Cardinals within nine, at 37-28 with a jumper in the paint.

UTA began to get comfortable with their lead as Lamar made a run, coming within six points at 59-53 with 3:34 on the clock. With the game on the line, the Mavericks fed the ball inside to their go-to player in Champion who converted on a three-point play, making the score 62-53 with 3:02 remaining.

The Cardinals wouldn't go away as they connected on back-to-back jumpers, bringing them within five points, at 62-47 with 1:41 on the clock. Champion was fouled intentionally by the Cardinals in order to get the ball back but the senior poured in four free throws, sending the game well out of reach.

Both Champion and Simmons contributed 20 points apiece while sophomore Shalyn Martin collected 12 points and Meghan Nelson added nine.

UT Arlington lost the battle in rebounding but won points off of turnovers, 19-8 over the Cardinals. The Mavericks finished the game shooting 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the floor, 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from three-point range and 78.9 percent (15-of-19) from the charity stripe.

The Cardinals were led by Brittany Williams who finished with 15 points while N. Williams added 13 points and five rebounds.

UT Arlington travels to Huntsville, Texas on Saturday, February 28 for a match-up against Sam Houston State. Game time is set for 2 p.m.