ARLINGTON, Texas – The UTA women's basketball team opens a five-game homestand on Thursday night (Dec. 19) when they welcome Marist (6-2) to College Park Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.

Matchup: UTA (5-4) vs. Marist (6-2)
CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll Rankings: UTA (No. 23), Marist (#11)
When: Thursday, December 19 | 7:00 p.m.
Where: College Park Center | Arlington, Texas
Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN+) | Tickets

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 .530 from the field this season
- Waiver to play immediately approved by the NCAA prior to the Nov. 15 UNT game
#20 Claire Chastain (G)
- Scored 22 points vs. #8 Louisville in the Paradise Jam
- Ranks t-7th in the Sun Belt in 3pt FG made per game (1.6)
#21 Terryn Milton (G)
- Scored a career-high 18 points at Kansas State
- Shooting .442 from the field this season
- Ranks 8th in the Sun Belt in assists per game (2.9)
#24 Aysia Evans (G)
- Ranks t-4th in the conference in steals (2.1/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)
- Ranks in the top 20 in the conference in rebounds (19th; 5.9), assists (2nd; 4.2) and assist/turnover ratio (4th; 1.4)
- 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 | MARIST
- Thursday night will be the first-ever meeting between Marist and UTA.
- The Red Foxes clipped Green Bay 72-60 in their last outing on Dec. 15 at McCann Arena. Rebekah Hand moved into second place on Marist's all-time scoring list with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Grace Vander Weide recorded a game-high 20 points, a career-best 12 boards, and six assists. Alana Gilmer scored 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter.
- Marist ranks 17th in fewest turnovers, 37th with a 75.6 percent free throw percentage, and 48th with a team field goal percentage of 44.7 percent.
- Rebekah Hand is 20th in Division I in free throw percentage and 34th in points per game.
- Grace Vander Weide is third in the nation with a 95.2 free-throw percentage and 46th in assists per game.
- Allie Best is 42nd in the country with a 2.36 assist/turnover ratio.

COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID-MAJOR TOP 25
The UTA women's basketball team took the No. 23 spot in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll that was released on Tuesday, December 17.

UTA is one of three Sun Belt Conference schools to appear in the Mid-Major Poll along with Coastal Carolina (RV, 24) and Troy (RV, 6).

Gonzaga held down the top spot in the poll (29 first-place votes; 772 points), while Missouri State took the No. 2 position. South Dakota (718 points), Princeton (662 points) and FGCU (648 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 36.6-percent shooting, which ranks 77th in the country. UTA also ranks in the top 100 nationally in Assists (69th; 15.7) and field goal percentage (88th; 42.9%).

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."

UTA HOOPS TEAMS WITH TYKES U
The UTA men's and women's basketball programs have teamed up with Tykes U to create personalized caricatures of each team, Blaze, the coaching staffs as well as select university dignitaries to be used for the remainder of the 2019-20 season. UTA is the first and only Sun Belt Conference school to team up with Tykes and the Mavs are just one of two schools in the state of Texas to use Tykes (Houston).

The Tykes will be used as part of 'Tykes Thursdays' for UTA basketball games. Tykes could also be used for postseason tournaments (Sun Belt Conference Championship, NCAA Tournament, NIT, WNIT, etc.) as part of the 'Tournament Tykes' initiative for UTA hoops. Fans will see Tykes used on social media graphics, on UTAMavs.com for game previews, in game notes, on game programs/posters and also on video board and marketing collateral. Tykes will also be used in some capacity in marketing efforts during the rest of the season, with t-shirts, fatheads and in-game on the College Park Center video boards.

Based out of Charlotte, N.C., Tykes is a graphic design company that creates customized cartoon character or avatars of celebrities and athletes.

"Working with UT Arlington has been a fantastic experience for Tykes," said Tykes CEO Jason Woullard. "We embrace schools who are looking to expand their brand while taking marketing and recruiting to the next level. UTA has an outlook and a plan that aligns with the Tykes vision, which is why we believe this is a great beginning to a partnership that will enhance the marketability of a school on the rise."