by ARLINGTON, Texas – On Senior Day, the Lady Mavs overcame an early deficit with a dominant second quarter before cruising to an 88-65 win over Troy on Saturday afternoon at College Park Center.
With the win, the Lady Mavs improve to 22-6 overall and 14-3 in league play, while the Trojans fall to 20-7 and 11-5 in conference action. The win also clinches a top-two seed and a triple-bye to the semifinals in the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Championship for UTA.
The Lady Mavs shot just 22.2 percent (4-of-18) from the field in the first quarter and trailed the Trojans 20-13 after the opening 10 minutes. Over the next 20 minutes (second and third quarters), UTA outscored Troy 49-21.
“Troy can just really sock you in the mouth from the tip and it took us a little while to get going,” head coach Krista Gerlich said. “I thought our kids responded great. I thought they really tried to stick to our game plan defensively and slow them down.”
UTA began the second quarter with a quick 8-2 run to cut the deficit down to a point. A Terryn Milton triple halfway through the quarter gave UTA a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. The Lady Mavs’ lead ballooned to as many as 23 points on the afternoon.
Over the final six minutes of the quarter, the Lady Mavs went on a 22-2 run, including a 7-0 spurt in the last 26 seconds of the half. In all, UTA outscored Troy 30-6 in the second quarter. The six points in the second period from Troy is the fewest amount of points a Lady Mav opponent has scored in the 2nd period this season.
Troy struggled with UTA’s defense in the second quarter, which caused 11 Trojan turnovers.
In the last home game of her collegiate career, Cierra Johnson scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to register her fourth career double-double.
“It feels good, but obviously I couldn’t do it without my teammates,” Johnson said. “Everyone played well and Troy didn’t know who to guard or how to guard us.”
Johnson also recorded three steals to take sole possession of third place on the Sun Belt Conference’s all-time steals list (307).
Lauren Billie (11 points), Claire Chastain (13) and Milton (15) joined Johnson in double-figure scoring in the win.
UTA recognized seniors Johnson, Billie, Laurynn McGowen, and Daiane Machado in a pregame ceremony.
“I thought our seniors really played well,” Gerlich said. “Daiane came in and gave us some really great minutes. LB finished that second quarter doing what LB does and finding ways to score and giving us a lift at the three-point line. Lolo came in and gave us a spark and I’m just so proud of how they finished their career in this College Park Center. Luckily their careers aren’t over yet.”
The Lady Mavs will wrap up the 2018-19 regular season on Saturday, March 9 at Texas State. Tip-off for the regular season finale is set for 2 p.m.
