ARLINGTON, Texas – The UTA women's basketball team heads to Evanston, Ill. to face Northwestern (7-1) on Monday morning (Dec. 16) in their lone road game in the month of December. Tip-off at Northwestern is set for 11:00 a.m.

Matchup: UTA (5-3) at RV Northwestern (7-1)
When: Monday, December 16 | 11:00 a.m.
Where: Welsh-Ryan Arena | Evanston, Ill.
Live Stats | Live Video (BTN+)

UTA PROBABLE STARTERS
#12 Marie Benson | F
#20 Claire Chastain | G
#21 Terryn Milton | G
#24 Aysia Evans | G
#41 Katie Ferrell | G

STARTING 5 QUICK HITS
#12 Marie Benson (F)
- Named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week for the 2nd time this season (Dec. 10)
- Scored a season-high 27 points at Grambling on Nov. 18
- Shooting .540 from the field this season
- Waiver to play immediately approved by the NCAA prior to the Nov. 15 UNT game
#20 Claire Chastain (G)
- Shooting .342 from the 3pt range this season
- Scored 22 points vs. #8 Louisville in the Paradise Jam
- Ranks 11th in the Sun Belt in 3pt% (.342)
#21 Terryn Milton (G)
- Scored a career-high 18 points at Kansas State
- Shooting .478 from the field this season
• Ranks t-6th in the Sun Belt in FT% (.800) and 6th in assists per game (3.1)
#24 Aysia Evans (G)
- Ranks t-3rd in the conference in steals (2.4/gm)
- Tied her career-high with 19 points vs. Oklahoma State in the Paradise Jam
- Knocked down a trey in 16 of the 31 games she appeared in as a junior
#41 Katie Ferrell (F)
- Ranked in the top 17 in the conference in rebounds (17th; 5.9), assists (2nd; 4.4), and steals (t-12th; 1.5)
- Ranked in the top 100 nationally in total steals (48th), steals per game (54th), assist-to-turnover ratio (56th), total assists (88th) and assists per game (92nd) last season

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT | NORTHWESTERN
- Northwestern will host UTA in the final game of its six-game homestand on Monday.
- Monday's matchup, which is the first matchup between the two teams in program history, will also be Field Trip Day at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
- The Wildcats are coming off a dominant 79-37 win over Dartmouth. Northwestern posted season highs in shooting percentage, points, assists, blocked shots, and steals in the win.
- Junior Lindsey Pulliam led the team in scoring with 16 points, and sophomore Courtney Shaw added a career-high 11 points. Pulliam and Shaw were two of four Wildcats to reach double digits in the game, with seniors Abbie Wolf and Abi Scheid adding 14 points each. 
 
COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID-MAJOR TOP 25
The UTA women's basketball team took the No. 25 spot in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll that was released on Tuesday, December 10.

UTA is one of four Sun Belt Conference schools to appear in the Mid-Major Poll along with South Alabama (RV, 9), Troy (RV, 3) and Coastal Carolina (RV, 1).

Gonzaga held down the top spot in the poll (26 first-place votes; 767 points), while Missouri State took the No. 2 position. South Dakota (718 points), Princeton (661 points) and FGCU (647 points) rounded out the top-five.

The CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top-25 is now in its 10th season of existence. The poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, Western Athletic and is voted on by a panel of 31 coaches.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Lady Mavericks are limiting opponents to just 35.2-percent shooting, which ranks 48th in the country. UTA also ranks in the top 75 nationally in Assists (51st; 16.0), field goal percentage (56th; 44.3%) and opponent field goal percentage (48th; 35.2%).

WE'LL TAKE THE COMPLIMENT
Despite going 0-3 at the 2019 Paradise Jam, the Lady Mavs played hard and left an impression on fans and opponents during the event.

Louisville head coach Jeff Walz was very complimentary of UTA in his postgame interview..."I expected this. I told our kids that UTA played a physical brand of basketball. I was very impressed with watching them in film study."

He followed those comments up with a tweet to Coach Gerlich following the Lady Mavs' matchup with the Cardinals..."I will be following your team all season long! Love the spirit and passion they play with. It's good for our game and something that fans will come watch."

SUN BELT PLAYER OF THE WEEK...AGAIN
For the second time this season, Marie Benson was honored by the Sun Belt Conference as the league's Player of the Week (Dec. 10) after helping guide UTA to a 68-62 win over Wright State.

The Lady Mavs' leading scorer (17.9 ppg) led the squad with a game-high 26 points in the win over the reigning Horizon League Champs. Playing in her first game as a Lady Mav at College Park Center, Benson shot 9-of-13 from the field and 8-of-14 from the free-throw line to finish her 26 points. She also added seven rebounds, two assists and a steal in the win.