UTA women fall short in Sun Belt tourney to Louisiana

After a perfect month of February, the UT Arlington women's basketball team was slapped with a bitter March.

The fourth-seeded Lady Mavericks (18-12) were bounced from the quarterfinal round of the women's Sun Belt Tournament 54-48 by Louisiana Lafayette (17-15) on Thursday.

UTA went 7-0 in February before losing to Texas State on Saturday, but led only once (4-3) in this game yet managed to stay close throughout, much like the first two meetings this season, nail-biters won by the Mavericks 63-61 and 38-34.

The Ragin' Cajuns led 16-11, 25-23 and 38-36 through the first three stanzas. In the final period they made only 1 of 6 field goal attempts but nailed down the victory by sinking 14 of 18 fourth-quarter free throws, including 5 of 6 in the last 15 seconds.

Senior center Rebekah VanDijk, a four-time, first-team All-Conference player, had 18 points and 10 rebounds in what could be the final game of her remarkable UTA career.

Sixth-seed ULL, which won a first-round game in triple overtime Tuesday, was led by Troi Swain of Round Rock with 20 points.

This story was originally published March 8, 2018 at 10:40 PM with the headline "UTA women fall short in Sun Belt tourney to Louisiana."