Nov. 16, 2009
Arlington, Texas -
Houston Game Notes 
The UT Arlington women's basketball team looks to capture its second home victory on Tuesday, November 17 against Houston. Game time is schedule for 7 p.m. at Texas Hall.
DATE/TIME/LOCATION: November 17, 2009/7 p.m./Texas Hall
TICKETS: Students free with MAV ID
TELEVISION: None
RADIO: None
PROMOTIONS: Basketball keytags, Posters, Schedule Cards
TEAM STREAKS: One Game
The Series -- UT Arlington leads, 7-0
This will be the eighth all-time meeting between both teams, with the Cougars leading the series, 7-0. The last time both teams stepped on the court to battle one another was November 23, 1985 in Houston with the Cougars recording a 100-69 victory.
MAVERICKS VERSUS COUGARS
The Mavs head into Tuesday night's contest in search for their second victory of the season. UTA notched a 81-64 win over Rice at Texas Hall with four players finishing in double figures.
Houston is coming off a victory themseleves, recording a 86-64 win in Boiling Springs, N.C.
Brittney Scott finished with a game high 27 points on 6-of-12 from the field, 4-of-8 from three-point range and 11-of-12 from the line.
Courtney Taylor brought down 16 boards and scored 12 points for the Cougars. Houston out-rebounded Gardner-Webb 47-44 but lost the battle in offensive boards 18-13.
The Cougars finished the game shooting 46.9 percent compared to Gardner-Webb's 31.3 percent from the field.
Last Time Out -- UTA 81, RICE 64
UT Arlington out-powered, out muscled and well, manhandled Rice 81-64 at Texas Hall Friday night.
The Mavericks out rebounded the taller Owls 51-39 and collected 18 offensive rebounds in the 17-point route.
UT Arlington was led by a senior guard Kiarra Shofner's career-high 17-point performance.
Meghan Nelson finished with 16 points with all her shots coming around the basket and in the paint.
Shalyn Martin finished with a double-double, 13 points to go along with 13 rebounds.
MAVERICKS PICKED TO FINISH 2ND IN LEAGUE
The Mavericks received 53 points and three first-place votes in the coaches' poll. The Mavs tallied 55 points and five first-place votes in the SID poll.
Overall UT Arlington was picked second behind Lamar, who finished third in the West Division last season. The Cardinals received 59 points and six first-place votes for the top spot.
Last year's defending champion UTSA earned 50 points and two first-place votes while A&M-Corpus Christi collected 34 points and one first-place vote.
SIMMONS & MARTIN EARN PRESEASON HONORS
Tamara Simmons was named to the SLC preseason first-team while Shalyn Martin was named to preseason second team.
Simmons finished second on the team with 11.5 points per game and led the squad in assists for the second consecutive season with 124.
Martin, the Mavs top defensive player and leading blocker finished last season with 40 blocks and 44 steals. Martin, a native of Arlington, Texas, was named third-team all-conference and was selected to the SLC Tournament and Bahamas Sunsplash All-Tournament team.
Joining Martin on the second team were UTSA guard Amber Gregg, A&M-Corpus Christi center Elisa Beagle, Lamar transfer Jenna Plumley, and Texas State guard Victoria Davis.
MAVERICKS ADD FIVE TO ROSTER
Compared to last season where UTA had a total of eight players on the roster, this season will be different as five newcomers and one redshirt have been added to the squad. Redshirt Veronica Mergerson sat out last season and should provide depth to the forward position.
The newcomer's lineup consists of three guards and two forwards. Guard LaNell Taylor leads the pack with the most experience coming from Seward Junior College where she finished her final season appearing in all 34 games and averaged 9.3 points per game. Sabreena DeNure and Kiara Parker come from well known high school basketball programs and complete the guard position.
A native of Houston, Texas, Donna Dike is one of five forwards that look's to fill the void of former seniors Champion and Dixon. Dike was a first team all-district honoree and finished her final season averaging 15 points and 15 rebounds per game at Westside High School.
Grapevine High School product, Erica Paskell joins Dike at the forward position. Paskell earned first team all-district honors and was named the mustang's most valuable player as a junior.
AFTER TONIGHT
After tonight, the Mavericks go back to practice to prepare for their meeting with UMKC on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 4 p.m. at Texas Hall.
This will be the first all-time meeting against UMKC. The Kangaroos finished last season with a 12-17 overall record and a 7-11 mark in the Summit League.
