MOBILE, Ala. – Marie Benson scored 10 points and pulled down 16 rebounds on Thursday as UTA had four individuals finish in double figures while picking up a 68-45 Sun Belt Conference women's basketball win over the University of South Alabama at the Mitchell Center.
Misty Dossey led all players with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting for the Lady Mavericks (12-7, 6-1 Sun Belt), who also received 13 points off the bench from Claire Chastain and 10 from Aysia Evans.
Savannah Jones and Antoinette Lewis posted 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Jaguars (9-10, 4-3, SBC), with the latter adding 12 rebounds and four steals.
UTA 68, South Alabama 45 (box score)
GAME FACTS
-UTA shot 58.8 percent — making 10-of-17 shots from the floor — while the Jags hit just 21.4 percent as the Lady Mavs led 23-10 at the end of the first quarter.
-South ended the first half on a 7-2 run and trailed 38-32 at the break.
-The Jaguars went over six minutes without a point in the third period and were down 52-39 with 10 minutes remaining in the contest.
-The Lady Mavericks went on a 12-2 spurt over a seven-minute stretch beginning at the three-minute mark of the third quarter to break open the game.
-UTA finished with a 48-34 rebounding margin, also outscoring the Jaguars 34-18 in the paint.
-The Lady Mavs hit one more three-point field goal than USA after making five treys on the night, but they needed half as many attempts to reach that total after South shot 4-of-24 from beyond the arc.
NOTES
-The loss snapped a season-best three-game win streak for the Jags.
-South's 28.3 field-goal percentage was its lowest figure since shooting 28.1 percent from the floor in a loss at Southern Mississippi on Dec. 15.
-Shaforia Kines was honored prior to the game for scoring the 1,000th point of her career in the Jaguars' Sun Belt opener against Appalachian State on Jan. 2.
-Lewis finished the night with 735 rebounds in her career, moving her into a tie for 10th place on the school's all-time list in the category with Lyletha Gamble (1999-02).
-It was also the sixth contest in a row that the junior has scored in double digits, the longest active streak on the team.
-Lewis continues to lead the league with nine double-doubles, while it was the 25th time since the start of the 2017-18 season that she has posted 10-plus points and rebounds in the same game; the last occasion she accomplished the feat in back-to-back outings was on Dec. 4 and 7 against Auburn and Tulane.
-It was the third consecutive game that Jones has recorded double figures in points, and the seventh time in the last eight outings she has achieved the feat.
-Kines tied a season high with three steals, although it marked the first outing since the start of conference play that she has failed to score 10 or more points.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Terry Fowler
Opening statement: "We've talked about starting fast and finishing strong, we weren't able to do that. We settled down in the second quarter and played good basketball. We just weren't able to get anything going in the fourth quarter, we weren't able to finish strong like we had been able to in our last three ball games. UTA was able to just get the ball in the paint, and they dominated the glass."
On moving forward: "You can't dwell on it. We have to prepare for the next game. We just have to be at high level of concentration, and be ready to go on Saturday."
Junior C Antoinette Lewis
On UTA's height: "I think they're the tallest team in our conference, you can't prepare for that on a day-to-day basis."
On how to respond to the loss: "This is not the outcome that we wanted, but we have practice tomorrow. We'll get after it and prepare for Saturday."
Up next: The Jags will take on Texas State Saturday, with opening tip slated for 5 p.m. (CST) at the Mitchell Center as part of a doubleheader with South's men's program.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the South Circle, the unrestricted giving option of the University of South Alabama Athletics. Contributions to South Circle directly support all 17 sports in addition to various support programming. For more information on how you can join visit: http://jaguarathleticfund.com/give
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