| Junior Amber Gregg scored 20 points on Tuesday in what ended up being UTSA's season finale (photo by Burk Frey). |
KATY — UTSA’s quest for a third straight Southland Conference Tournament Championship came to an end on Tuesday night, as fifth-seeded UT Arlington ended the No. 4 Roadrunners' season with a 68-63 victory in the last quarterfinal of the night at the Merrell Center.
The Birds' campaign came to an end at 16-14, while the Mavericks evened their mark to 15-15 and they will face top seed Lamar in second semifinal game at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Junior Amber Gregg netted a team-high 20 points on the strength of three 3-pointers, while junior Ashleigh Franklin posted her 10th double-double of the year with 14 points and a dozen rebounds. Sophomore Whitney York added 14 points and freshman Judy Jones scored 13 and hauled in six boards.
Meghan Nelson scored a team-high 18 points for UTA, while Shalyn Martin produced her third double-double of the campaign against the Birds with 17 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
UT Arlington pushed its lead to double figures at 50-39 on a layup by Donna Dike with 11:03 to go in the second half. Gregg logged five straight to make it a seven-point game (51-44) with 9:03 to play.
The Roadrunners made one last run with a 7-0 spurt to make it a one-point game (60-59). York highlighted UTSA’s stretch with five points, but the Mavericks connected on free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
UT Arlington’s Martin scored six of the Mavericks first eight points for the 8-2 lead with 15:46 to go in the first half. UTA then extended its lead to 23-13 on Simmons’ three-point play at the 8-minute mark of the frame.
UTSA managed to cut the deficit to 25-22 on pair of Jones’ free throws with 5:44 left, but UT Arlington took a 35-28 advantage at the half.