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MAVERICKS LOOK FOR 12TH CONFERENCE WIN AT SAM HOUSTON STATE
Feb. 27, 2009
Arlington, Texas -
GAME #27
LIVE STATS
SERIES HISTORY WITH THE BEARKATS
SCOUTING THE BEARKATS - The victory keeps the Bearkat women alive in the race for one of the eight spots in the Southland Conference postseason tournament in Katy, TX, March 11-14. - Four starters return from last year's squad including Lydia Gonzales and Whitney Smith became the first Bearkat women in four seasons to average in double figures, each with averages of 12.4 points per game. Also back are guards Leasa Ailshie and Brittany Brooks. A third guard, Ray Alexander, returns after a medical redshirt season.
LAST TIME VS. THE BEARKATS - UT Arlington finished the game shooting 58.3 percent (35-of-60) from the field compared to 41.3 percent (26-of-63) from the floor. - Erin Dixon led the Mavericks with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-4 from the free throw line and brought down nine boards. Candice Champion recorded a double-double, finishing with 22 points and 12 rebounds. - Sam Houston State's Britni Martin collected 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, including 6-of-11 from three-point range and 2-of-4 from the charity stripe.
GAME RECAP: LAMAR AT UT ARLINGTON 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. Simmons had the hot hand from behind the arc, sinking three-three pointers, leading the Mavs to a 14 point advantage at the 12:51 mark. 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.
DIXON AND CHAMPION LEAD SLC IN SCORING AND REBOUNDING - Champion has scored in double-figures in 25 of UTA's 26 games this season and has finished with 20 or more points in 13 games. She leads the league in scoring with 17.8 points per game and sits behind Dixon in rebounding with 9.5 per game. - Fellow senior Dixon has dominated the boards for the Mavericks and league since the start of the season. Dixon leads the conference with 11.0 rebounds per game and the team with 11.1 per game. - Dixon has collected 10 double-doubles this season and has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in 14 contests this season.
MAVERICKS DROP FIRST HOME GAME - The Lady Lions also ended UT Arlington's eight straight victories. The Maviecks had posted home wins against Midwestern State, Houston Baptist, Texas State, UTSA, Sam Houston State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Northwestern State. - The Mavs got back on track on Wednesday, Feb. 25 with a 66-59 home victory agaisnt Lamar University. UTA will hosts a final home game against Nicholls State on Wednesday, Mar. 4. Game times is set for 7 p.m.
CHAMPION EARNS THIRD SLC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR - Champion led the Mavericks to a 2-0 record with 44 points and 20 rebounds. The Waco, Texas, native finished with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, including 6-of-6 from the free throw line to go along with eight rebounds and two assists on the road against Stephen F. Austin. - For the fifth time this season, Champion recorded a double-double performance at home against Sam Houston State with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Champion was 8-of-10 from the field, including 6-of-6 from the charity stripe and added two assists in 39 minutes of action. She leads the team with 17.1 points per game and is perfect at the free throw line.
UTA LEADS LEAGUE IN POW HONORS - Senior Candice Champion was the first to be named followed by sophomore Tamara Simmons and Champion has collected two more titles under her belt. - The only other school that comes close to the Mavericks is UTSA as Monica Gibbs and Amber Gregg each grabbed an honor.
Meghan Nelson TAKES OVER THE POINT - Nelson has done exactly that leading the Mavs in scoring in four of five games in conference. - Stepping again against UTSA (2/14) for the top spot in the West was Nelson, who recorded a career-high 24 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field and grabbed seven boards for the Mavs. - The junior guard scored a game-high 21 points versus UTSA (1/14), followed by a team-high 15 points on the road against Lamar (1/17) and notched a season-high 23 points at Stephen F. Austin (1/21). - In conference action, Nelson is third on the team in scoring with 11.9 points per game and in points scored with 246.
CHAMPION NEEDS 45 POINTS TO REACH 1,000 POINT MILESTONE - So far this season, Champion has pocketed 459 points and has already surpassed her point tally from last season. - In conference alone, the senior is averaging 18.7 points per game and 17.8 overall. In Champion's last eight games, she has finished with 20 or ore points in five games.
JUNIOR Kiarra Shofner RETURNS TO MAVERICKS LINEUP - Shofner suffered a knee injury in the Mavs first conference game against Texas State on January 10. - The junior guard played three minutes against the Cowgirls.
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