No. 6 UT Arlington (15-15) vs. No. 3 Louisiana (20-9)
Wednesday | 7:30 p.m. | Lakefront Arena (New Orleans)

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By Michael Eldridge | @DFWSportsMike

ARLINGTON, Texas - A new season for UT Arlington women's basketball opens on Wednesday in the 2016 Sun Belt Championship. The No. 6 Lady Mavericks take on No. 3 Louisiana in the first round at New Orleans' Lakefront Arena at 7:30 p.m.

The Lady Mavericks (15-15) closed the regular season playing some of their best basketball. UTA won seven of its last 11 during a season that UT Arlington coach Krista Gerlich described as a roller coaster.

"At times we have shown how great we can be and at times it has been really difficult," Gerlich said. "We have had a lot of kids step up. This has been a great group. They have really battled through the chemistry part of it and have figured out how to play well together."

The Lady Mavs are as close to healthy as they've been lately going into a contest against a team that swept the season series. Cierra Johnson returned to the court Saturday after a six-game absence, as did Toma Zaleckaite after being out one game.

"We have really had to battle adversity, and it has been fun to see our kids battle through that and see how they respond," Gerlich said. "I am excited that we will have everyone on deck for the tournament and for them to feed off of all of those experiences."

For sophomore Rebekah VanDijk, the expectations are to end a trend of first round exits. UTA has not won an opening-round tournament game since 2010 and made a quick exit in the team's first SBC appearance in 2015. The Lady Mavs struggled to get going on offense and fell to in-state rival Texas State in a game that UTA shot just 30.9 percent from the floor.

"The experience is really good just to be able to get the taste of how the tournament feels," VanDijk said. "We were all heartbroken after we lost. We don't want to be done after one game, we want to continue and try to be there all weekend."

VanDijk ended the season with her first-career SBC Student-Athlete of the Week award. The sophomore posted a career-high 33 points against Texas State on March 1 and averaged 21.0 points per game over the last three games.

Gerlich is leaning on the experience of the eight players that got a taste of the postseason last year. UTA returns all five from its starting lineup against Texas State last year.

"Hopefully they took away some experience because we came out last year and were star struck," Gerlich said. "I hope that they understand now that it is a chance for a new season and they have a new opportunity in front of them."

Notes: Louisiana (20-9) is 12-5 against UTA all-time. The teams meet for the first time in tournament play. … UTA is 17-28 all-time in conference tournaments and 11-12 in the first round. UTA's last tournament win was in 2010 against UTSA. … Amara Wainwright is currently third in single-season history with a 42.3 percent 3-point shot (14th in NCAA Division I) and also third in career history at 38.8 percent over her career. … UTA's scoring defense is 35th in the nation, allowing 56.4 points per game.