Dec. 1, 2014
UT Arlington (3-1) vs. UTSA (3-2)
Tuesday | 7p.m. CT | Arlington, Texas
Live Stats: | Live Video: UTAMavs.com ($)
By Michael Eldridge | UTAMavs.com
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Lady Mavericks begin a tough three-day stretch that opens with a clash against in-state rival UTSA at College Park Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The Lady Mavericks (3-1) and Roadrunners (3-2) share a rivalry that spanned across two conferences prior to realignment taking the programs in different directions. The two teams traveled to the WAC for one season after leaving the Southland Conference at the conclusion of the 2011-12 season. UTA has dropped the previous three meetings against UTSA, including a 74-56 loss in San Antonio last season.
"It is probably the hardest stretch that we have had yet and two tough opponents," UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich said. "It is a good setup for us to see what our conference schedule is going to look like and to get their minds right."
The Lady Mavs will continue the run when they return to the road for the second time this season when they play at Kansas State, the team's second trip to the state of Kansas. UTA fell 71-61 against Wichita State in its previous trip.
UTA has been efficient in scoring this season and enters the week averaging 78.5 points per game, good for 37th in the nation. The high scoring has been a difficult matchup for opponents to play against due to the scoring coming from different players each game. The Lady Mavs have featured a different leading scorer throughout each of their four games.
"It shows that we have some balance," Gerlich said. "When people are scouting us it is going to be hard for them to decide on whom to guard. They can't focus on just defending one person and there are other kids on the team that can step up for us and be the leading scorer."
Freshman Rebekah Van Dijk leads the squad overall in scoring after averaging 14.8 points per game. The freshman has picked up three double-doubles thus far and is tied for 26th in the nation with 11.3 rebounds per game.
Joining Van Dijk in the national leaderboards is junior LaShanda Green. Green is tied for 47th with 5.3 assists per game and is a player that Gerlich calls the quarterback of the team.
"She is our general," Gerlich said. "She needs to run us and dictate where people are going and be the glue for us and hold us together. She does a great job of being our leader."
Green leads the Lady Mavs in minutes played at 34.5 per game and has averaged 9.0 points.
Following the three-day trek, UTA will have nine days inbetween before it plays again. The Lady Mavs travel to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday, Dec. 13.
