Jan. 17, 2008

Final Stats

THIBODAUX, La. - The Texas-Arlington Mavericks remained perfect in Southland Conference play, defeating the Nicholls Lady Colonels 80-61 Thursday evening in Stopher Gym, despite Nicholls' senior guard Katherine Plummer's milestone achievement of her 1000th career point.

The Lady Colonels (3-11, 1-2) cut the UTA lead to three, 47-44, with 15:16 remaining in the contest, but the Mavs' powerful post players helped Texas-Arlington (8-6, 3-0) pull away with the victory.

"They're a strong team," said Nicholls head coach Mark Cook. "They've always been good at the post and that showed tonight. Our problem has been our depth. We've got some injuries to take care of right now."

The Mavs were impressive on the boards, grabbing 49 rebounds - 15 on the offensive end - to the Lady Colonels 29 (seven offensive). UTA recorded 14 assists, with four from LaTosha Duffey.

Nicholls went 13-of-17 from the charity stripe for 76.5% and had four players reach double digits in scoring, led by Plummer's 21 points. Freshman guard/forward Shelley West netted 14, while junior forward Christie Bryant and junior guard Nikina Hill poured in 11 and 10, respectively.

Texas-Arlington was led by Tiffeny Riles double-double as she grabbed 10 points and 13 boards, including nine on defense. Maryann Abanobi poured in 16 points, while Erin Dixon pulled down 10 rebounds.

UTA relied on 34 points from the bench to Nicholls' five, a big part of the win for the Mavericks.

"They've got a lot of depth on their bench," added Cook, "and we don't right now, and that really helped them tonight."

The Lady Colonels will continue with game three of a five-game homestand Saturday afternoon, playing host to Texas State at 2 p.m. in Stopher Gym.

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