Watch on Fox College Sports - Pacific (check local listings)
TICKETS | LISTEN | STATS | UTA NOTES | K-STATE NOTES
ARLINGTON, Texas - Looking to rebound after its first loss of the season, UTA women's basketball hits the road for a matchup against undefeated Kansas State Wednesday night at Bramlage Coliseum.
The Lady Mavs (5-1) are coming off their first loss of the season, falling to Stephen F. Austin, 65-60, after starting the season 5-0 for the first time since 1977. All Lady Mavericks games are audio broadcast on Mavs All-Access with Amanda Kent calling the action. The subscription based service starts at $9.99 per month and gives fans access to all Lady Mavs games.
UTA is 0-3 all-time against the Wildcats, dropping both trips in Manhattan, Kan. under coach Krista Gerlich. Junior Rebekah VanDijk has averaged 8.5 points per game against the Wildcats in two meetings.
With the hot start, the Mavs top the conference with a 5-1 record, while also leading in field-goal percentage (43.3), second in points per game (71.7) and scoring margin (+9).
Christina Devers is the lone Lady Mav to be in double-digits in every game with a career-high 22 points against Wichita State. Cierra Johnson's 3.2 steals per game is good for 22nd in the nation and tops the Sun Belt. The junior has at least one steal in 26 of her last 29 games. VanDijk is 10th in NCAA Division I in offensive rebounds per game (5.0), 15th in double-doubles (4), 29th in field-goal percentage (58.7) and and 65th in rebounds per game (9.2).
Kansas State is 8-0 on the year, entering Wednesday's game with the top scoring defense in the Big 12 at 50.6. Kindred Wesemann leads the Wildcats in a number of offensive statistical categories, averaging 15.5 points per game and 87 percent free-throw percentage. On the other side of the ball, Wesemann has a team-high 1.9 steals per game
MILESTONE WATCH
VanDijk is 3 blocks shy of tying Rola Ogunoye (2001-05, 117) for fourth most in UTA history...VanDijk is is 12 rebounds short of tying Candice Champion (2005-09, 642) for tenth in UTA's all-time charts...Johnson is four steals away from tying Gale Yanes (1993-97, 177) for ninth in UTA history.
QUOTABLE:
Head coach Krista Gerlich on the teams performance against SFA:
"After watching film we just did not play well at all. I don't want to take anything away from Stephen F. Austin because they really attacked us but we were not true to ourselves. Our girls know that we can play much better than that and they've got to learn a valuable lesson that they can't overlook anyone and can't just show up and play."
Gerlich on what the team has worked on this week:
"We've worked a lot on guarding and defense. We've got to get better at that and really buy in to getting stops when we need stops. We shot the free throws a lot too."
Gerlich on preparing for Kansas State:
"We are definitely going to have to guard them and not give them easy buckets. We have to make them earn them. With their defense, they're so big and long in their zone, we're going to have to handle it and move the ball well without letting them have deflections and turning the basketball over. We have to value the basketball, execute and throw the first punch."
