PENSACOLA, Fla. - No. 2-seed UT Arlington built a 20-point third-quarter lead, then held off a furious comeback by seventh-seeded Georgia Southern in claiming an 85-76 Sun Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinal women's basketball win on Friday evening at the Pensacola Bay Center.
UTA (18-7) moves on to the semifinals to take on No. 3 seed Louisiana on Sunday. Georgia Southern sees its season come to a close at 18-10 overall, the most wins in a single season since 2009-10 and the best single-season winning percentage (.643) since 2002-03.
The Mavericks opened the game on a 10-4 run and led at the quarter break, 20-14, thanks in large part to going 8-for-11 from the free throw line. The Eagles' Terren Ward scored the first bucket of the second quarter to make the score 20-16, but UTA went on a10-0 run over the next two minutes and 17 seconds to lead 30-16 with 7:16 left in the period.
The Eagles crept back to make it an eight-point game, 37-29, at halftime. In the second half, however, the Mavs went on a 13-2 run over a two and a half minute stretch to build a 50-31 lead. The lead would stay double digits until the fourth quarter as Georgia Southern would eventually get within six on a Rachel Johnson three-pointer with 1:25 remaining. UTA hit six-of-six free throws in the final minute to close out the win.
Taya Gibson led the Eagles offensively with 16 points, while Terren Ward added 13. Starr Jacobs led a quartet of Mavs in double figures with her game-high 28 points.
Eagle of the Game
Gibson came off the bench to collect her second double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds, going 5-for-13 from the floor but a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. She also added two free throws.
Stat of the Game
After hitting 6-of-8 threes en route to 50 first-half points on Wednesday against Georgia State, the Eagles went 0-for-7 from three-point range in the first half tonight and finished the game 3-for-17 from three-point range.
Quotables • WATCH THE FULL SUN BELT QUARTERFINAL POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Head Coach Anita Howard on the quarterfinal game against the Mavs
"I'm pleased with how we fought to the end. No one is happy to going home as early as we are right now. But we were here, and we had a great opportunity against a great opponent in UT Arlington. It took us a while to get going. We allowed Starr [Jacobs] to be the star of the show. But we showed our resilience and perseverance, from being down 20 to cut the lead to single digits. That ells you what this team is about. The future is bright for Georgia Southern women's basketball. We broke a lot of records, including winning our first game here. I'm super excited about the future, but of course this one stings."
