UTA women hit buzzer-beater to beat Louisiana, seal second place in Sun Belt

Junior Shelby Richards hit a 3-point shot from the corner at the buzzer to give the UT Arlington women a dramatic 79-76 victory over Louisiana Lafayette in a regular-season finale Saturday.

The Ragin’ Cajuns had tied the game with under 10 seconds remaining after being down by as much as 17 points with 6:31 to play.

Christina Devers picked up a mid-court pass and dished it to Richards.

With the win, UTA (21-7, 13-4 Sun Belt) sealed the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt tournament. The second-place finish is the best for the program since the 2008 season when it was second in the Southland Conference West Division. The 13 wins tie for the second best in a conference season.

“It is exactly what we need. We need that energy and that confidence and momentum,” UTA coach Krista Gerlich said. “Second place in the Sun Belt after four years, we are so proud of this group of kids and the group and the group that came before them for the standard they want to continue to set. I am just so proud of them.”

Advancing into the quarterfinals with a bye, the Mavericks take on the winner of the No. 7 and No. 10 game on at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Lake Front Arena.

Including the game-winner, UTA made 11 treys Saturday, two short of the school record.

Devers connected on five attempts from long range on the way to a game-high 19 points.

Rebekah VanDijk picked up her 12th double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds and her basketball with 6:31 left put UTA ahead 66-49. VanDijk achieved two major milestones against UL. The junior center moved up to fourth in UTA’s all-time rebounding charts and into 10th in all-time scoring.

Cierra Johnson had 14 points and Richards finished with 12.

This story was originally published March 4, 2017 at 9:49 PM with the headline "UTA women hit buzzer-beater to beat Louisiana, seal second place in Sun Belt."