• Znine
• Campus Calendar
• My Mav
• UTA Radio
• UTA Home
• Student Email
• Libraries
• Wikipedia

• Local Forecast
• Movie Listings
• Traffic Info
• TV Listings

March 7, 2006

Women's Basketball

Mavericks knock out Cowgirls

Women remove McNeese from the SLC tournament Monday in the first round.

Story by: Megan Magaña

The Shorthorn staff

The Shorthorn: Rebekah Workman

Junior guard Terra Wallace rises for a shot over McNeese State guard Clarrisa Clark on Monday in Texas Hall. Wallace broke the single-season scoring record during the 71-43 victory.

The Mavericks women’s basketball team avenged a 72-hour-old loss to McNeese State on Monday night at Texas Hall.

In the Southland Conference postseason tournament semifinal game, the Mavs bulldozed the Cowgirls’ playoff aspirations in a 71-43 smack down.

The Mavs lost their last regular season game Friday night to the same opponent.

Head coach Donna Capps said the tempo of the game was similar to Friday’s until the team slowed down in the second half and took advantage of the clock in Monday’s game.

“I know it sounds crazy, but we did the exact same thing,” she said. “But we were able to get shots off, and our players settled in and stopped rushing their shots.”

UTA scored first with a layup by post Candice Champion. The Mavs fell behind 10-8 with 13:11 left but sparked a 14-1 run and continued to build their lead.

At halftime, the Mavs held a 36-21 advantage. UTA only had two turnovers for the half and shot 40 percent from the floor.

After the break, UTA wasted no time and built a 20-point lead with 17:46 to go. McNeese State reduced the deficit by two, but it was the closest the team would get.

Guard Terra Wallace, the SLC Player of the Year, broke a 28-year-old scoring record, finishing with 32 points, seven assists and six steals. She has 534 points in 28 games this season, two more than Carolyn Smith, who set the previous record with 532 points in 31 games.

“Today, I really tried to make good passes and just take good shots,” she said.

Forward Tojjinay Thompson, who had nine points and a game-high nine rebounds, said the bench, which had 16 points and eight rebounds, gave the starters a chance to rest physically and mentally.

“They came in and gave us good defense and good offense,” she said.

Carol Sensley, McNeese State head coach, said the Cowgirls’ 12 first-half turnovers killed them, and they weren’t there defensively.

“We didn’t have an answer for Wallace,” she said. “She’s a tremendous, very talented player.”

The Mavs return to Texas Hall on Wednesday to face UT-San Antonio. UTA lost to the Roadrunners, 68-67, Feb. 16 in double overtime.

The winner of that contest will go on to the championship game Saturday at 3 p.m.

CORRECTION

The article should have stated the Mavericks won a quarterfinal game.