Defense helps UTA women top South Alabama

What the UT Arlington women’s basketball team will remember most about Saturday’s 59-49 win over South Alabama at College Park Center is that it kept them perfect in Sun Belt conference play.

But the win also extended the Mavericks’ win streak to five games, something that has not been accomplished since 2009.

“It’s a good thing for us that we’re able to keep winning despite maybe not playing as well as we could,” coach Krista Gerlich said.

The Mavs (8-3, 2-0 Sun Belt) shot just 10-for-20 from the free-throw line and struggled to find offensive production at times, but finished the first half on a 16-4 run behind a defense that held South Alabama scoreless for a span of nearly eight minutes.

Toma Zaleckaite found center Rebekah Van Dijk open inside for a basket that put the Mavs up 28-18 before Chaun Williams returned Zaleckaite’s favor in the final minute of the half for a bucket from the post that made it 33-20.

UTA took a 33-22 lead into the halftime break.

Van Dijk made the work look easy inside, going 9-of-13 from the field on her way to a season-high 19 points, with eight rebounds and four blocks.

“My teammates got me the ball where I needed it,” Van Dijk said. “And that makes it a lot easier to score.”

And when the Jaguars (3-8, 0-2) threatened in the second half, coming within 49-42 on Marquita Daniels’ 3-pointer with just over eight minutes remaining, the UTA turned to the post player again.

Guard Amara Wainwright drew a charge on Daniels, who had 15 points for the Jags, before LaShanda Green found Van Dijk open underneath to go back up 53-44 with six minutes left. Guard Breanna Hall led South Alabama with 16 points.

The Mavs have a short turnaround for their next Sun Belt matchup, at Troy on Monday, before returning to College Park Center on Thursday against Louisiana-Monroe.

This story was originally published January 3, 2015 at 8:23 PM with the headline "Defense helps UTA women top South Alabama."