ARLINGTON, Texas – Despite trailing by four at the half, the ULM women's basketball team used a 50 percent shooting performance to collect their first Sun Belt Conference victory of the Dow-era as they knocked off UT Arlington 63-51 on Thursday night in College Park Center.
"That was a great come-from-behind win for our program,” said head coach Jeff Dow. “It was important that our players see that they can win away from home. Also, to come back from a halftime deficit was huge. As a team we did an outstanding job on the boards.”
Although the Lady Mavericks led the Sun Belt Conference by averaging 3.9 more rebounds than their opponents, ULM outrebounded UTA 42-24.
In addition to their stellar shooting, the Warhawks (6-6, 1-2 SBC) used a staunch defensive effort to limit UT Arlington (8-5, 2-2 SBC) to just 38.9 percent from the field.
“In the second half it felt like we had several stretches where we held them to one shot and finished our defense,” said Dow. “We also place a lot of importance on winning the free throw battle so it was encouraging to see us shoot 23 and hold them to only 9."
Daja Chase scored a career-high 15 points and had six rebounds, four steals and two assists.
Sharnice Brooks added eleven points, seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Alayshia Hunter garnered her first double-double of the season as she collected ten points and ten rebounds. The junior also had three blocks, two steals and an assist.
LaShanda Green led UT Arlington with 14 points.
The Lady Mavericks started the game on a 7-2 run before a bucket by Brooks and two free throws by Chase left the home team with a 7-6 lead with 18:22 left before the half.
UT Arlington stretched the lead back out to four, but Chelsea Tieuel basket from beyond the arc with 15:04 remaining in the half cut the lead to 12-11, UTA.
Christina Gray followed up Tieuel's bucket with a jumper of her own to help the Warhawks take their first lead of the game, 13-12.
The Lady Mavericks then used a 10-0 run to take re-gain the lead before back-to-back scores by Brooks and Gray cut the home team's advantage to 23-15.
UTA extended their lead back to 11 points, but a free throw by Chase, followed by a three-pointer from Wharton, sparked a 7-0 ULM run, leaving the Lady Mavericks clinging to a 30-27 lead with 3:58 left before the break.
UT Arlington pushed their lead back to seven, but the Warhawks entered the locker room trailing just 36-32 after Chase made another free throw and then hit a layup with eight seconds remaining.
The home team kicked off the second half with a bucket, but an Aundrea Davis layup, a free throw by Brooks and a jumper by Hunter cut UTA's lead to 38-37 with 15:31 left in the game.
The Lady Mavericks extended their lead back to five points before ULM used a 6-0 run to take re-take the lead with 12:00 remaining.
UTA snatched a 44-43 advantage before a jumper by Chase with 11:11 left in the game gave the Warhawks a lead they would not give up.
After a layup by Hunter with 1:43 remaining left ULM with a 54-51 advantage, Chase, Davis, Brooks and Tieuel combined for nine free throws to give the Warhawks a 63-51 victory.
The Warhawks take the court again on Saturday as they travel to San Marcos, Texas to take on Texas State at 2:00 p.m. in Strahan Arena.
