Feb. 14, 2008

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Lamar University women's basketball team dropped their second straight game Thursday night, falling to the UT-Arlington Mavericks 69-46 at Texas Hall in Arlington, Texas.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first 10 minutes of the game, but UTA began to heat up as Maryann Abanobi got hot from behind the three point line to give the Mavs an edge. She knocked down four of her five first half triples and scored 16 points to give the home team a 30-19 advantage at halftime.

The Lady Cardinals were not able to get their offense going during the opening 20 minutes, but were able to keep the game close with a solid defensive effort. Lamar forced 10 Maverick turnovers in the half while giving it away just eight times.

In the second half the Mavericks slowly built their lead up as the LU offense continued to struggle. UTA opened the lead to 20 points five minutes into the half and never allowed the Lady Cards to get any closer than 19 points for the remainder of the game.

Jasmine Stewart and Nikki Williams led the way for the Lady Cardinals with nine points each, while Brittney Williams scored seven points.

Arlington was led by Abonabi's game-high 23 points while Candice Champion scored 12 points.

The Lady Cards will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they host the Texas State Bobcats at 4:00 at the Montagne Center.