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ARLINGTON, Texas -- After claiming its season opener on Sunday, UT Arlington women's basketball will face its first road test of the 2016-17 season, traveling to face WKU in a 5:30 p.m. CT tipoff at E.A. Diddle Arena. The game will be televised live on Fox College Sports.

UT Arlington (1-0) will be facing a WKU (1-0) team that is regarded as one of the powers in Conference USA. WKU leads the series with UTA, 3-0, claiming the meeting a year ago, 73-63. The teams met in 2014-15 as members of the Sun Belt Conference.

The Lady Mavs posted a 75-54 win over UTSA on Sunday to open their season. A 30-10 fourth-quarter margin helped UTA break open a close game. In her UTA debut, Christina Devers had a game-high 21 points, with Cierra Johnson tying her career high with seven steals and Miranda LeJune dishing out a career-best nine assists.

In its fourth season under the direction of head coach Krista Gerlich, UT Arlington entered the season picked to finish third in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches' Poll. Junior 6-foot-5 center Rebekah VanDijk was voted as the preseason SBC Player of the Year. VanDijk had 10 points and six rebounds in the win over UTSA on Sunday.

The Hilltoppers have a 50-10 record since 2012-13 at Diddle Arena, including a 14-1 mark in 2015-16. WKU opened its season with a 96-32 win over Alabama A&M on Friday, equaling its program record with 13 three-pointers. Tashia Brown led WKU with a double-double on Friday vs. Alabama A&M (13 points, 10 rebounds), along with Kendall Noble (12 points, 10 rebounds).

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Krista Gerlich on Western Kentucky ...
"Western Kentucky is a really good basketball team. They are in a position that we want to be in. They're a highly sought after mid-major. They do a nice job with playing tough opponents and have a great environment at their place, so it'll be a tough matchup. They're well-coached, physical and experienced, but it's a great test for us. We've played them the past couple of years and have played them close. We haven't been able to get over the hump, but we have a different attack this year. I expect it to be a very physical game. We'll have to do a really good job on Kendall Noble, who's a great point guard. We'll have to weather some storms and figure out how to rebound."

Gerlich on building off Sunday's win ...
"Winning breeds confidence, so that good start certainly helped us there. Our girls are seeing that if they buy into what we're selling and do what we ask, they will be successful. That has been a positive for us."

On Gerlich building quality depth in her lineup ...
"It's nice to have some depth, especially in the guard position which we haven't really had in the past. It's fun to be able to throw somebody out there who can pick up the slack if somebody isn't having a good night. It can be anybody on any given night and that's what we're going to be about. Not only that, but it allows us to play at a fast tempo in a pressure situation, which we want to do all 40 minutes."

Gerlich on the positives of competing in a close game on Sunday ...
"Our kids know that they're in it at any point and didn't panic and had the confidence to distance themselves when it gets close. I thought our leadership and veterans were really good that game. They stepped up and showed how to execute late in the game."