By Michael Eldridge | UTAMavs.com

ARLINGTON, Texas - UTA women's basketball continues to make national waves as it returns home from the northeast with a 5-0 record after capturing the SHU Thanksgiving Classic.

The Lady Mavericks earned a vote for the first time ever in the USA Today Coaches' Poll, building on the mid-major poll success they received last week.

"Clearly we are excited about people talking about women's basketball at UTA, and it's definitely a step in the right direction" UTA coach Krista Gerlich said. "It's where we want to go, our girls set as one of their team goals this year to be a top-25 program. It starts with one vote, now for our girls to keep working and climbing. It's an exciting time at UTA right now and I'm excited our girls are getting recognized for their hard work and effort. We need to stay hungry."

UTA defeated Big East power Seton Hall 86-61 in the tournament's championship game and were helped along by Tournament MVP Rebekah VanDijk. Her 34-point performance earned her the College Sports Madness Mid-Major Player of the Week award, and was tied for fourth-best in Lady Mav single-game history.

The success to reach 5-0 has been a team effort as the Lady Mavs are one of just 29 teams still undefeated. Christina Devers led the team in scoring for four of the five contests, while Cierra Johnson has been a staple on the defensive side. Johnson is ninth in NCAA Division I in steals per game at 3.8. VanDijk is 13th in offensive rebounds per game (5.0), 22nd in double-doubles (3) and 24th in field-goal percentage (60.7).

With the individual success for the greater good, UTA leads the Sun Belt in assist/turnover ratio (0.93), assists per game (16.2), field-goal percentage (43.6) and turnover margin (+4.6).

The Lady Mavericks look to continue their best start since 1977 when they host Stephen F. Austin at College Park Center at 2 p.m.