ARLINGTON — UT Arlington came out strong in its season opener and upended UTSA by a score of 75-54 on Sunday afternoon at College Park Center.
UTSA (0-2) shot 41 percent (21-of-51) from the field, including 38 percent (3-of-8) from behind the arc, and was 9-of-18 from the charity stripe.
Loryn Goodwin, Carlie Heineman and Tesha Smith paced the offense with 14, 11 and 10 points, respectively. Meanwhile, Kasia Kiejdrowska added seven points and 10 rebounds and Goodwin added six assists.
The Roadrunners played from behind the entire way but closed in on the deficit late in the third quarter. UTSA used a 6-0 run within a 3:02 span and came within two points at the 43-41 mark with 1:41 remaining in the quarter.
In the closing seconds, Kiejdrowska drew a foul and completed one of her free throws to make it a one-point game heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
UTSA played a close game in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter but a two-point shot by Allyson Te'o with 7:01 on the board sparked a 17-2 run for the Lady Mavs that put the home team on top 68-50 that held the rest of the way.
Christina Devers and Cierra Johnson led UT Arlington (1-0) with 21 and 16 points, respectively. Devers was a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range, while Johnson was 6-of-7.
UTSA will return to the Convocation Center for a mid-week matchup against Texas A&M-Kingsville on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m.
