ARLINGTON, Texas – Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year Rebekah VanDijk recorded her sixth double-double of the season and 43rd of her career with 29 points and 14 rebounds to lead UT Arlington to a 70-61 win over ULM Saturday (Jan. 20) in College Park Center.
 
Arsula Clark's jumper from the right elbow gave ULM a 4-2 lead with 8:14 remaining in the first quarter. The Lady Mavericks put together an 8-1 run midway through the opening period to take a 15-7 lead on VanDijk's layup with 2:17 left. The Warhawks went 4:37 without a field goal until Jessica Harris buried a 3-pointer from the top of the circle with 1:56 to play as ULM pulled to within 15-10 at the end of the first quarter. VanDijk posted 11 points on 4-of-6 field-goal shooting and grabbed five boards in the first 10 minutes.
 
Miranda LeJune's 3-pointer from the right baseline gave UTA a 10-point lead at 21-11 with 7:53 left in the second quarter. A layup by Destini Lunsford sparked a 10-0 spurt as ULM rallied to tie the score at 24 on a three-point play from Gabriella Cortez with 2:11 to play in the first half. Crystal Allen knocked down two free throws with 57 seconds left to send the Lady Mavericks to the locker room with a 26-24 halftime advantage.
 
VanDijk scored back-to-back layups and Allen connected on a 3-pointer from the right wing as UTA (10-9, 4-4 Sun Belt) extended its lead to 11 at 37-26 with 4:53 remaining in the third period. The Lady Mavericks led 44-35 at the end of three quarters.
 
Laurynn McGowen made 1-of-2 free throws with 5:46 left in the fourth quarter to give UTA its largest lead at 55-40. Trailing 61-48, ULM (4-14, 1-6) responded with an 11-4 run to cut its deficit to six at 65-59 on two free throws from Harris with 50 seconds remaining in the game. The Lady Mavericks hit 5-of-6 free-throw attempts in the final 46 seconds to ice the game.
 
"We got into a little bit of a rut offensively, but we stayed in the game because of our rebounding and defending," ULM head basketball coach Jeff Dow said. "Rebekah VanDijk became a problem for us, just like she does for every team UTA plays. We were late in our rotation in the zone and VanDijk came up with seven offensive boards. Too often, we got beat off the dribble while in the zone, so we were outnumbered from a rebounding perspective.
 
"Our defense was outstanding in the first half, and we didn't allow things to snowball after getting down double digits in the third quarter. I'm really proud of our effort to get back into the game in the fourth quarter. Our players showed a lot of resiliency, and I'm proud of the energy provided by the bench. They responded with a 26-point effort in the fourth quarter. That's impressive, especially on the road.
 
"Obviously, we're not happy with the result, but I'm pleased with the toughness the team played with this afternoon," Dow continued. "We had to manage foul trouble in both halves, but the players continued to compete throughout the game. UT Arlington has a lot of talented players, so we should be able to learn from this experience. We feel good about the effort and intensity exerted today, and hopefully, those things can carry over into our next league games."
 
UTA also got 13 points from McGowen and 11 from Allen.
 
Three Warhawks scored in double figures, led by Cortez who netted 20 points, with 15 coming in the second half. Cortez also contributed eight rebounds, three assists and four steals.
 
Clark finished with 15 points while Harris posted a season-high 15 off the bench.
 
"It was good to see us have a little more balance offensively," Dow said. "Gabby was struggling from 3, but she still found a way to score 20 points in part because she was driving it strong and getting to the foul line.
 
"Jess Harris gave us a nice lift off the bench and was able to score in a variety of ways, from drives to 3s to free throws.
 
"Arsula Clark again was able find a way to get to the rim a few times plus added a couple of nice mid-range pull-ups. Unfortunately, she was saddled with foul trouble in both halves, which limited her to 27 minutes. We've been pleased with the steady progress Arsula has made in conference play. Game in and game out, she's consistently been among our team leaders in scoring, rebounds and assists."
 
After playing three-straight Sun Belt games on the road, ULM returns to Fant-Ewing Coliseum to face Troy on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. and South Alabama on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 12 p.m.