May 29, 2013

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ARLINGTON, Texas - Women's basketball coach Krista Gerlich is quickly getting to know the UT Arlington community. Blaze's Sports Grill hosted a meet and greet with Gerlich on Tuesday evening.

"It was nice to meet some boosters because those are people you really want to reach out to," Gerlich said. "It was fun to see them and I was really please because you never know who will show up. I think Jim Baker does a really great job of getting the staff there."

Gerlich, hired April 11, has worked to bring in a staff to support and move the women's basketball program forward.

Assistant coach Kristin Cole and director of basketball operations Courtney Lee worked under Gerlich at West Texas A&M before coming to UT Arlington. Assistants Ashley Crawford and Talby Justus are entering their first season with Gerlich.

"It's awesome," Gerlich said about her new staff. "I think we're all really excited. I love the mind set of everyone and our expectations and types of players that we want to come in here and how we want the program to be ran and how we want the program to be viewed.

"We've got a lot of work to do, but at the same time I think our staff really understands that. I think our kids have already figured out how much our staff is going to care about them. We're jelling really well and I'm really excited to everybody here and get to work."

The team will begin working out soon and Gerlich believes they have a lot of work ahead of them during the summer.

"We are going to get in shape," Gerlich said. "More than anything I think it's just getting in to shape and getting into strength and conditioning form. I think they've got to get faster and stronger and just get in better shape.

"To do the things that we want to do on the court they've got to have a stronger mindset and be physically able to exert themselves and a high potential for a long period of time."