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Women's basketball rallies for late-game victory

Written by Travis Detherage, The Shorthorn staff

Wednesday, 20 January 2010 11:13 PM

The Mavericks have dominated the series against Stephen F. Austin in recent years and Wednesday wasn’t any different as UTA broke its two-game losing streak by winning 85-79 at Texas Hall in a game that went down to the wire.

The Mavericks have now won seven straight against SFA and 12 of the last 13 meetings. UTA was down by 11 twice in the game and still managed to come back. Head coach Samantha Morrow said this win was a total team effort.

“I was very pleased with the way they competed,” she said. “We just didn’t quit and we refused to lose and [it’s] just a testimony of what kind of people they are.”

SFA led 22-21 with 7:39 left in the first half and went on a 14-4 run to pull ahead 36-25. UTA used a press to go on an 11-2 run of its own to get within two points with 1:30 left in the first half.

“We just buckled down on defense and we did a couple of things pressing and we were able to get traps to get it done before the end of the first half,” Morrow said.

Junior forward Shalyn Martin had her sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds, but the star of the night was senior guard Meghan Nelson. She showed once again why she is the third-leading scorer in the Southland Conference by scoring 33 points. Morrow said Nelson was amazing.

“At the end of the game with seven minutes left, I asked Meghan if she wanted to come out and she said ‘no I’m good,’” Morrow said. “She did it all. You can’t say enough about Meghan - what she’s done and how she’s worked to improve her game.”

19 of Nelson’s points came in the first half. Nelson said she is able to get it done by working hard at practice.

“We do a lot of shooting drills and we all work hard to get ready for the game,” Nelson said. “I know that I have to be a leader out on the court and I come into every game saying I need to set the tone.”

SFA led 43-40 at halftime and was able to get another run going by scoring nine unanswered points to start the second half, but the Mavericks were able to inch their way back and take a one-point lead with 13:15 left in the game.

SFA took back the lead and was up by two with 11:46 remaining. The Mavs went on a 6-0 run to make it 66-62, and from that point they were able to hold onto the lead for good. Junior guard Tamara Simmons, who had 13 of her 15 points in the second half, said this was a big win.

“We’ve been struggling, but to come out tonight and beat a good team like SFA it means a lot to me and my team,” she said.

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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 26 January 2010 01:16 PM )

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