Aug. 22, 2005
ARLINGTON, Texas - The University of Texas at Arlington women's basketball team will play its first 10 games on the road before opening up at home on New Year's Eve announced sixth-year head coach Donna Capps as the Mavericks released their 2005-06 schedule on Monday.
Fans will get their first chance to see the Mavs in 2005 when they host a pair of exhibition games at Texas Hall against the Houston Jaguars on Nov. 10 and the Houston Cavaliers on Nov. 14. The game against the Jaguars will be a special night as the Mavs will unveil their 2004-05 Southland Conference championship banner.
The Mavs will begin their quest for their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 19 against Big East member South Florida in the USF/Image Depot Shootout in Tampa, Fla. UTA will take on LaSalle on Nov. 20. The Mavs will close out the month with a short trip to Dallas to take on local rival SMU on Nov. 30.
The month of December will begin with the Mavs at New Mexico State on Dec. 3 and at UTEP on Dec. 4. After final exams, UTA will embark on its longest trip of the season as the team will play four games on the seven-day trip. The trip begins at Cincinnati on Dec. 14 then heading south to Orlando, Fla., for the UCF Tournament. UTA opens the tournament against Troy on Dec. 16 before taking on the host Golden Knights on Dec. 17. The trip concludes at Florida on Dec. 19.
"I am very excited about the tournaments that we will be playing in Florida," said Capps. "We will be tested, but we will be able to compete. It will also be great to continue to games with the local teams in SMU and TCU."
To end the calendar year, UTA will take on local rival TCU on Dec. 30, before putting their school-record 17-game home- court winning streak on the line against Cornell on Dec. 31.
UTA begins Southland Conference play with three games against teams that finished in the top half of the conference a season ago. The Mavs will open up conference play on Jan. 5 at Northwestern State before the home opener against Louisiana-Monroe on Jan. 9. Texas State (Jan. 12) completes the first week of play.
After playing two of their next three contests on the road, the Mavs will play six of the next eight games at home. UTA closes out January with a pair of home games against Stephen F. Austin (Jan. 26) and Sam Houston State (Jan. 28). February opens up with home tilts against McNeese State (Feb. 2) and Northwestern State (Feb. 9) before a pair of road contests at Texas-San Antonio (Feb. 16) and Lamar (Feb. 18). The month ends with two more contests at The Hall as the Mavs host Nicholls State (Feb. 23) and Southeastern La. (Feb. 25).
UTA closes out the regular season with a pair of road contests at Sam Houston State (March 1) and McNeese State (March 3) before opening up SLC Tournament play on March 6-10.
The Mavs finished the 2004-05 season with an overall record of 21-10 and a 13-3 mark in conference play. UTA captured its first regular season and conference tournament championships and made the school's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
