Aug. 31, 2004

ARLINGTON, Texas - The University of Texas at Arlington women's basketball coach Donna Capps has announced the 2004-05 women's basketball schedule with games against area rivals North Texas, SMU and TCU highlighting the 27-game schedule. The Lady Mavs open up their season with a pair of exhibition contests against the Houston Cavaliers on Nov. 13 and a team to be determined on Nov. 17. "Our schedule is definitely going to be a challenge this season," said Capps. "We are going to play some tough opponents to get us ready for the conference season." As been customary in years past, the Lady Mavs will play their non-conference schedule away from the friendly confines of Texas Hall. UTA will play 10 of its 11 non-conference games on the road and travel nearly 3,408 miles on the way. The regular season gets underway on Nov. 19 when UTA travels to take on Arkansas-Little Rock. The Lady Mavs will remain on the road the rest of the month as they take on Kansas (Nov. 21) before heading to Las Vegas, Nev. for the Lady Rebel Shootout on Nov. 27-28. UTA will open up with the host Rebels before taking on either North Carolina or Villanova on day two. UTA will close out the month with a game at Southern Utah on Nov. 29. UTA will look to add to its school-record eight-game home win streak when it hosts New Mexico State on Dec. 4. After taking the next week, the Lady Mavs will then embark on another month long road swing as close out their non-conference schedule with SMU (Dec. 11), Florida State (Dec. 18), Texas (Dec. 21), North Texas (Dec. 30) and TCU (Jan. 2). The Lady Mavs open up Southland Conference play on the road against Nicholls State (Jan. 6) and Southeastern Louisiana (Jan. 8). UTA will open up its home conference season on Jan. 12 when defending regular season and tournament champion Northwestern State comes to Texas Hall. UTA closes out the first month of conference play with home games against Louisiana-Monroe (Jan. 22), Stephen F. Austin (Jan. 26) and McNeese State (Jan. 29). The race for the regular season championship can be determined for the Lady Mavs in the final two weeks of Feb. as UTA plays three straight road contests at ULM (Feb. 19), SFA (Feb. 24) and Texas-San Antonio (Feb. 26). "We did not get a kind draw this season," said Capps. "It is going to be a big test both mentally and physically. If we are healthy, it will serve as a good test heading into the conference tournament." UTA closes out the regular season with home contests against Texas State (March 2) and Nicholls State (March 4) before the Southland Conference Tournament gets underway on March 7-11. The Lady Mavs finished the 2003-04 season with an overall record of 19-12, and a 11-5 mark in the SLC.