UT Arlington women get ugly win over La.-Monroe for season sweep
Don’t expect any apologies from UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich on her team’s 40-32 slugfest win over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday night at College Park Center.
“No,” Gerlich said. “It probably wasn’t the prettiest win from a fan perspective, but any time we’ve got one more point than the team across from us we’re happy at the end.”
The Mavericks (13-12, 8-7 Sun Belt) had to do it without their second-leading scorer and best perimeter defender in sophomore Cierra Johnson, but they had all the defense they needed to get past Monroe (9-16, 3-13).
It probably wasn’t the prettiest win from a fan perspective, but anytime we’ve got one more point than the team across from us we’re happy at the end.
UTA coach Krista Gerlich on the Mavericks’ 40-32 victory
Warhawks forward Alayshia Hunter entered the game as the Sun Belt’s fourth-leading scorer at 16.3 points per game, but the stingy UTA defense allowed the 6-foot-1 senior just seven points and four rebound.
“That’s scouting,” UTA forward Toma Zaleckaite said. “We knew she prefers her left hand, so we stuck to her. It was a team effort on her.”
The Mavericks were giving up just 56.points per game entering Saturday. Against Monroe, though, they gave up just nine points in the second half and surrendered just 11 field goals in the game. The Warhawks shot a paltry 22.4 percent from the field.
Zaleckaite led UTA with 12 points and seven rebounds, the second game in a row the senior forward has given the Mavs a lift without Johnson. The Lithuanian led the Mavericks with 14 points in Thursday’s 59-42 home loss to Louisiana-Lafayette.
Center Rebekah VanDijk was saddled with two early fouls in the first quarter and had to sit out the majority of the first half but finished with eight points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. The sophomore moved into sixth in UTA history in blocks, picking up two of her three in the fourth quarter with the Mavs protecting a single-digit lead.
The win was UTA’s 600th in program history and gives the Mavs the season sweep over the Warhawks.
This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 8:25 PM with the headline "UT Arlington women get ugly win over La.-Monroe for season sweep."