SUN BELT RELEASE

ARLINGTON, Texas – Just days after securing the program's first Sun Belt regular reason title, the UTA women's basketball team saw head coach Krista Gerlich and redshirt-senior Cierra Johnson receive Sun Belt postseason accolades. Coach Gerlich was named the league's Coach of the Year for the first time, while C. Johnson was named Co-Player of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Sun Belt First Team.

Voting for the Sun Belt individual awards and All-Sun Belt teams were conducted by the league's 12 head coaches along with a selected media panel.

Little Rock's Ronjanae DeGray and C. Johnson were voted Sun Belt Co-Players of the Year. Troy's Sky'Lynn Holmes was named Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, Louisiana's Brandi Williams was voted Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and Georgia State's Allison Johnson was named Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year.

Coach Gerlich and the Lady Mavs wrapped up the 2018-19 regular season with a 23-6 overall record (15-3 SBC). UTA, ranked No. 25 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Poll, earned the program's first Sun Belt regular season crown (4th overall; Southland Conference Regular-Season Titles in 2004-05, 2006-07, 2008-09) and have won 20+ games for just the 10th time in program history. The Lady Mavericks also won 11 of their last 12 games to close the regular season.

As a team, UTA leads the conference in scoring margin (+12.8), field goal percentage (.451), three-point field goal percentage (.378), assists (17.3) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2), while also ranking in the top-3 in multiple categories, including scoring, scoring defense, blocks and steals.

Johnson, the 2017 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, missed the majority of last season due to a knee injury, but she returned for her final year at UTA and has started every game for the Lady Mavs and led the team in scoring (15.0), steals (58) and free-throw percentage (.829) during the regular season. C. Johnson is now UTA's leader in career steals and is ranked third all-time in Sun Belt history in steals with 308, and counting. Earlier this season she became the 19th woman in UTA history to join the 1,000-point club and now ranks 8th on UTA's all-time scoring list with 1,340 career points. The Bedford, Texas native has scored in double figures in 16 of the last 17 games (22 games total) and notched a career-high 31 points to go with a career-best 12 boards in an 88-65 win over Troy (March 2).  

The No. 2 seed Lady Mavs will tip off their Sun Belt Championship semifinal game at 2:00 p.m. CT on Friday. Click here to view the complete tournament bracket.

For the latest news on UTA Women's Basketball, log on to UTAMavs.com or stay connected to the Lady Mavs on social media. Follow the Lady Mavericks on Twitter @LadyMavHoops, on Instagram @UTALadyMavs and on Facebook at Facebook.com/LadyMavHoops.
 
2018-19 SUN BELT POSTSEASON AWARDS
All-Sun Belt First Team
Ronjanae DeGray, Little Rock (Sr. F, Odessa, Texas)
DJ Williams, Coastal Carolina (Jr., G, Moreno Valley, Calif.)
Antoinette Lewis, South Alabama (So., F, Memphis, Tenn.)
Cierra Johnson, UTA (RS-Sr., G, Bedford, Texas)
Toshua Leavitt, Texas State (Sr., G, Nixa, Mo.)

All-Sun Belt Second Team
Kyra Collier, Little Rock (Jr., G, North Little Rock, Ark.)
Alexis Brown, Georgia Southern (Jr., G, Madison, Ga.)
Jada Lewis, Georgia State (So., G, Powder Springs, Ga.)
Savannah Jones, South Alabama (So., G, Ocean Springs, Miss.)
Sky'Lynn Holmes, Troy (Sr., F, Mount Pleasant, Texas)

All-Sun Belt Third Team
Bayley Plummer, Appalachian State (Jr., C, Thomasville, N.C.)
Tori Lasker, Little Rock (So., G, Mayflower, Ark.)
Peyton Martin, Arkansas State (So., F, Pine Bluff, Ark.)
Allison Johnson, Georgia State (Sr., F, Norcross, Ga.)
Arsula Clark, ULM (So., G, Douglasville, Ga.)

Sun Belt Women's Basketball Co-Players of the Year
Ronjanae DeGray, Little Rock (Sr. F, Odessa, Texas)
Cierra Johnson, UTA (RS-Sr., G, Bedford, Texas)

Sun Belt Women's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year
Sky'Lynn Holmes, Troy (Sr., F, Mount Pleasant, Texas)

Sun Belt Women's Basketball Freshman of the Year
Brandi Williams, Louisiana (Fr., G, Lake Charles, La.)

Sun Belt Women's Basketball Newcomer of the Year
Allison Johnson, Georgia State (Sr., F, Norcross, Ga.)

Sun Belt Women's Basketball Coach of the Year
Krista Gerlich, UTA