Offense sputters down the stretch as A&M falls to UT-Arlington, 61-60

Game #5: UT-Arlington 61, Texas A&M 60
Records: Texas A&M (4-1, 0-0), UT-Arlington (3-4, 0-0)
Box Score

The following is a release from Texas A&M Athletics:

LAIE, Hawaii – The Texas A&M women’s basketball team fell to UT Arlington, 61-60, at the Cannon Activities Center Monday in the second game of the North Shore Showcase.

Graduate guard Jordan Webster led the Aggies (4-1) with 11 points off the bench. Fatmata Janneh grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and had nine points. Ny’Ceara Pryor and Janae Kent both pitched in 11 points each.

The Aggies attacked the start strong, holding the Mavericks (3-4) scoreless for the first three minutes, 7-0. UTA would rally back to make it a back-and-forth tussle for the rest of the quarter, with the Maroon & White edging out their opponent, 19-16, at the end of the period.

The neck-and-neck battle continued into the second, with both teams scoring 11 points. Kent rounded out the scoring in the half with two layups to keep the three-point lead, 30-27. The Mavericks’ higher field goal percentage in the quarter, 33.3% to A&M’s 18.8% was not enough for the opponents to gain the lead.

Even with the Aggies striking first after the half with a jumper from Pryor, the Mavericks gained their first lead with 6:12 left in the third, 35-34. Two crucial 3-pointers from Webster helped turn the tide in the favor of the Maroon & White. With three seconds left in the quarter, junior forward Janneh made two critical free throws to enter the fourth quarter tied, 50-50.

The final frame was a slugfest with the Mavericks ultimately coming out on top, 61-60, in the final seconds. Texas A&M plays its final game in Hawaii Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Colorado.

POSTGAME NOTES

RECORDS & SERIES NOTES
• Texas A&M is now 9-2 all-time versus UT Arlington

• Joni Taylor's career record moves to 182-128 all-time and to 42-53 in her four seasons with the Aggies.

TEAM NOTES
• Texas A&M began with a starting lineup of Lauren Ware, Janae Kent, Fatmata Janneh, Lemyah Hylton, Ny’Ceara Pryor (1-1).

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Fatmata Janneh
• Grabbed 10+ rebounds for the third time this season.
• Led the country last season with 9.7 defensive boards per game and grabbed 10 against VCU.

Jordan Webster
• Scored a season-high 11 points and logged a season-best 25 minutes of action