Box Score - Texas-Arlington 59, South Alabama 49 (.pdf)

ARLINGTON, Texas – Marquita Daniels and Breanna Hall combined to record 30 points for the South Alabama women Saturday night, but it wasn't enough as the Jaguars dropped their sixth-straight game, falling 59-49 to Texas-Arlington at the College Park Center.

"I'm proud of the kids and the way they're fighting," South Alabama head coach Terry Fowler said.  "We kind of put it together and played in both halves tonight for the first time.  That's the thing that we have to try and continue to do.  We've got to put this one behind us and be ready to go against UALR on Monday night."

The Jaguars (3-8, 0-2 SBC) will continue on the road as they travel to take on Arkansas-Little Rock on Monday.  Tip-off versus the Trojans is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Jack Stephens Center.

Hall led USA with 16 points – her 15th-straight game in double digits and 22nd in her last 24 outings.  Hall was 5-of-12 from field with three three-pointers.  She also tied with Taylor Jenkins for top team honors on the glass as she pulled down a season-high six rebounds.  

Daniels was 4-for-9 from the field and 4-of-6 at the foul line to give the Jag freshman 14 points – one under her season high.  She also added a pair of steals.

The loss was also the 11th-straight road defeat and 19th in the last 20 outing for the program away from the Mitchell Center.  The 11 consecutive losses ties for fourth-longest streak in program history.  It extended USA's conference road skid to seven, dating back to last season.

Freshman post player Chyna Ellis registered four of South Alabama's seven blocks in the loss.

The win was the fifth-straight for Texas-Arlington (8-3, 2-0 SBC) – the program's longest winning streak since the 2008-09 season.

Rebekah Van Dijk led all scorers with 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting.  Paced by the play of Van Dijk, UTA held a huge advantage in the paint as they recorded 38 points and outscored USA 38-12 in that category.  

Van Dijk also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds to go along with her four blocks, three assists and a steal in 32 minutes of action.  

The Mavericks also forced South Alabama into 23 turnovers – its seventh game of 20 or more turnovers in a game this season – and converted those Jaguar mistakes into 27 points.

The Mavericks got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 6-0 lead during the first minute-and-a-half of the contest, but after missing its first four shots, South Alabama answered back with a 10-2 run to take its first lead of the night.  Hall began the scoring with a three-pointer.  Webb then knocked down a pair of free throws and connected from the left wing to give tie the game back up at 8-8.  On UTA's next possession, Colby Davis intercepted a pass and raced the length of the floor for a layup to give USA a 10-8 advantage with 16 minutes, 16 seconds showing on the clock.  

Over the next several minutes, the two clubs would keep things close.  With just under nine minutes remaining in the half, Hall gave South Alabama a three-point lead (18-15) with a jumper, but that would be the last points for the Jags over the next eight minutes.

"(Scoreless streaks) have been our deal here lately," Fowler stated.  "It's not just not getting a field goal, it's not even scoring a point.  We need to get to the line during those spells because we're having too many of those.  I can see us starting to make some strides and it's difficult for our players to understand that, but we just have to keep going."

During that time, USA would miss its next seven shot attempts and turn the ball over six times.  The Mavericks would take advantage of the drought and go on a 16-0 run to take a double-digit lead.  Amara Wainwright led UTA during the run with seven points and put the host up 31-18 with a pair of free throws at the 1:11 mark.

Rachel Cumbo finally ended the scoreless streak for the Jags with a pair of free throws with under a minute remaining.  Hall then added a pair of free throws of her own to trim the deficit to 33-22 with 6.1 showing on the clock.  UTA looked as if it were going to head into the locker room with a larger lead, but Van Dijk's bucket at the horn was waved off after video replay.

The Mavericks were 14-of-29 from the field during the first 20 minutes of play for 48.3 percent, while USA shot just 26.1 percent from the floor.  Texas-Arlington did most of its damage inside as the Mavericks recorded 24 of their 33 first-half points inside the paint.  Van Dijk led the way for UTA as she had 10 points, hitting five of her six shot attempts in the frame.

After struggling offensively to close out the first period of play, South Alabama came out and shot the ball much better in the early going of the second half.  

The Mavericks pushed the lead out to 13 on its first possession of the second stanza, but South Alabama kept battling back cut the deficit to single digits (35-26) a minute-and-a-half into the period on a trey by Hall.

USA kept battling and with the Mavericks holding a 42-32 advantage at the 13:23 mark after a jumper by LaShanda Green, the Jaguars charged back and trimmed the deficit to six (42-36) when Daniels drove to the basket for a layup with just over 11 minutes remaining.

The Mavericks answered back with seven-straight points over the next minute-and-a-half to stretch their lead back out to 49-36 on a Chaun Williams' bucket, but Daniels would get the Jaguars right back into it as she drained back-to-back three-pointers, the second coming from the left wing at the 8:12 mark to pull South Alabama within seven (49-42).

After trailing again, by 10 with five minutes showing on the clock, USA made one last charge and again cut the UTA advantage to six (54-48) with three minutes, 50 seconds remaining as Davis hit one of her two free throws.

South Alabama got two-straight stops on the defensive end of the floor , but couldn't capitalize and would get no closer as Texas-Arlington regained control and went on to pick up the 10-point victory.

NOTES:  The meeting between South Alabama and Texas-Arlington was the fourth in the brief all-time series between the two programs.   South Alabama now holds an all-time mark of 15-16 in Sun Belt Conference road openers.  The 0-2 start to conference play is the first since the 2012-13 season.  The loss was also the 11th-straight road defeat and 19th in the last 20 outing for the program away from the Mitchell Center.  The 11 consecutive losses ties for fifth-longest streak.  It extended USA's conference road skid to seven, dating back to last season.   USA's Breanna Hall led the Jags with 16 points versus Texas-Arlington – her 15th-straight game in double digits and 22nd in her last 24 outings.  The 23 turnovers by South Alabama versus UTA marked the seventh game of 20 or more turnovers in a game this season.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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