ARLINGTON – The UT Arlington women's basketball team completes a road trip that includes five of their last six on the road and eight of their last 10 as they take on Little Rock on Saturday afternoon inside the Jack Stephens Center.
3-POINTERS
- After an offensive explosion in Jonesboro in a 90-87 win over Arkansas State, the UT Arlington women's basketball team will finally conclude a massive roadtrip that saw five of the last six games away from the College Park Center as they take on Little Rock on Saturday afternoon at the Jack Stephens Center.
- It will be the 19th meeting between the Lady Mavs and the Trojans as the Lady Mavs have won two of the last three with Little Rock taking the last meeting at home, 47-40, on Jan. 23, 2021. UTA has won two of the last three on the road over the Trojans.
- UTA and Little Rock will both be departing the Sun Belt next season and heading to new conference destinations. The Lady Mavs will head to the Western Athletic Conference, while Little Rock has its eyes set on the Ohio Valley Conference.
LAST TIME OUT: ARKANSAS STATE
- UTA defeated A-State in First National Bank Arena in an absolutely thriller, 90-87
- UTA had a staggering 62 points in the paint to A-State's 38.
- The Lady Mavs shot a season-high 37 of 67 (.552) from the field and 5 of 10 (.500) from deep. It was the fourth most made field goals in a single game in school history.
- UTA was especially incredible in the second half, shooting 21 of 33 (.636) from the field, scoring 50 points in the half.
- A-State was 26 of 43 (.604) from the field and 9 of 19 (.473) from deep through three quarters, but only 6 of 19 (.316) in the fourth quarter including 0-for-3 from beyond the arc.
- UTA had a season-high 22 team assists to only 12 turnovers.
- The Lady Mavs outrebounded an opponents for only the fourth time this year (37-31). They are 4-0 in those games.
- Starr Jacobs 32 points is the first 30-point game of her UTA career and the 31st 30-point game in Lady Mavs history.
- Jacobs 32 points is tied for the 14th most points all-time and her 13 made field goals is tied for the sixth most all-time.
- UTA is 6-1 this season in games decided by three points or less.
- Katie Ferrell's nine assists matches a season-high with Terryn Milton this season.
- Shyia Smith jumped into double figured for the second time this season and for the first time since Nov. 13, 2021 against Sam Houston.
SCOUTING LITTLE ROCK
- Little Rock enters the contest at 8-7 overall and 3-2 in the Sun Belt. The Trojans dropped a triple overtime thriller to Texas State on Thursday afternoon 69-65.
- Little Rock has some impressive wins on its resume including victories over a pair of SEC opponents in Vanderbilt and Auburn. Little Rock also picked up an impressive road conference victory over Troy.
- Defense has been a key all season long for Little Rock as they hold oppoents to 59.4 points per game, third best in the SBC. UTA is 0-3 this season when scoring less than 60 points in a game.
- Sali Kourouma has been one of the top scorers in the SBC all season long as she comes in at 18.1 points per game. She has struggled more in SBC play, but comes off a 21 point outing against Texas State.
- Mayra Caicedo comes in at 33rd in the country in assists per game with 5.1. It is good for second in the conference behind Texas State's Kennedy Taylor. She is also first in the conference in minutes as she is right around 36 minutes per game.
- Coming into the weekend, opponents are finding it hard to move the ball against the Trojans. Opponents are averaging just 9.5 assists per game, a mark that ranks 12th in the nation.
- Joe Foley is in his 19th season at Little Rock and has won over 800 games in his illustrious 35 year coaching career, fourth among active head coaches.
- Since UTA joined the Sun Belt in 2013-14, Little Rock has won the most games in the SBC with 116. The Lady Mavs are third on that list with 93.
- Little Rock went 15-11 a year ago and 9-7 in the Sun Belt. They would eventually fall in the SBC Semifinals to Louisiana, 58-48. The Trojans have won 10 SBC Championships and have made the NCAA Tournament six times.
1-2 PUNCH
The duo of
Starr Jacobs and
Terryn Milton has taken the Sun Belt Conference by storm in the early part of the conference season.
In eight games this season, Jacobs comes in averaging 21.8 points per game and nearly two steals per contest while shooting .525 from the field.
On the other end, Milton is averaging 11.1 points per game on .480 shooting to go with 4.1 assists per game, and 2.1 steals per game. More amazingly, Milton has averaged 32.2 minutes per game and has only turned it over nine times.
Jacobs has scored 10 or more points in all nine conference contests and has eclipsed 20 points or more in five of those contests, including one 30 point game. Meanwhile, Milton has scored 10 or more points in six of the nine contests and has at least one steal in all nine contests, while eclipsing two or more steals in four games.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS.... AND THE BALL
A key reason for the Lady Mavs' success this season has been protecting the basketball.
UT Arlington leads the SBC and is 41st in the country in turnovers per game with only 13.1. They have not turned it over 20 or more times this season and have only gone over 15 turnovers as a team six times.
UTA is first in the Sun Belt in assist-turnover ratio at 1.1 this season. In their 15 games played this season, UTA is 10-1 when they have a plus assists-turnover ratio and 9-0 overall when they have at least 15 assists or more as a team.
The Lady Mavs are 1-4 this season when they have a negative assist-turnover ratio, including three losses by 10 points or more. The Lady Mavs have 10 or more assists as a team in 15 of 17 games this season, including a season-high 22 against Arkansas State on Thursday night.
Two point guards have been a key factor in protecting the basketball as
Terryn Milton and
Katie Ferrell are first and second in the SBC in assist-to-turnover ratio.
Milton sits at ninth in the country with a 2.72 assist-turnover ratio, while Ferrell is 18th in the nation at 2.47. In conference play, Milton has bolstered an incredible 3.7 assist-turnover ratio in conference play.
BIG KAT RANGE
Senior
Katie Ferrell has caught fire from beyond the arc in her last seven contests.
After going 2 of 18 (.111) to start the year from deep, Ferrell has gone 11 of 19 (.579) from beyond the arc and 9 of 14 (.642) in her last five games, making at least one 3-pointer in all of those games.
Ferrell has knocked down two or more 3-pointers in four conference contests, including three 3-pointers against Georgia Southern on Jan. 15. Her recent spurt has pushed her 3-point percentage over 30% as she is 13 of 37 (.351) beyond the arc this season.
FIVE STARR
Starr Jacobs has put together an unbelievable season by every metric thus far for the Lady Mavs.
Jacobs is 21st in the country in field goal percentage (.562), 16th in the nation in field goals made (141), and 15th in the country in points per game (20.4). Jacobs is also 73rd in the NCAA and second in the Sun Belt in steals per game with 2.29.
Jacobs has scored 10 or more points in all 16 contests this season and 20 or more points in eight games this season. Additionally, Jacobs has made five or more field goals in every single contest this season and shot above 50% in 11 of 16 games.
The one struggle Jacobs had at times this season was at the free throw line, but in the last few weeks, she has began to made an impact at the charity stripe.
Going into conference play, Jacobs was shooting 18 of 41 (. 439) from the free throw line. In her last five games, Jacobs has gone 46 of 61 (.754) from the line, including 6 of 6 against ULM.
On Thursday, she became the 31st player in program history to score 30 or more points, good for 14th all-time. Her 13 made field goals were the sixth-most made baskets in program history, while her 21 attempts was the eighth-most in UTA history.
In Las Vegas, Jacobs put together one of her best weekends as she combined to go 26 of 41 (63.4%) from the field while averaging 27.5 points to go with 3.5 steals. She scored 28 on 14 of 24 shooting against UNLV and followed that up with 27 on 12 of 17 from the field against Kansas City.
Jacobs added her name to the record books as her 14 made field goals against UNLV on Nov. 27 was good for the third-most all-time in a single game in UTA history. Her 12 made field goals against Kansas City on Nov. 28 tied her for ninth all-time.
RED HOT SECOND HALVES
In 11 of the 1112games the Lady Mavs have won this season, big scoring second halves have been a vital piece.
UTA has outscored their opponents in all 11 of those halves, averaging 39.5 points while shooting 159 of 322 (.494) from the field.
| OPP |
FG % |
PTS |
RESULTS |
| SHSU |
14-27 (.518) |
39 |
W, 72-54 |
| UH |
13-26 (.500) |
38 |
W, 69-66 (OT) |
| UNT |
14-26 (.538) |
39 |
W, 75-74 (OT) |
| UNLV |
14-32 (.438) |
41 |
W, 75-72 |
| USF |
11-23 (.478) |
32 |
W, 61-56 |
| RICE |
15-30 (.500) |
44 |
W, 73-65 |
| ULM |
13-30 (.433) |
33 |
W, 72-56 |
| GSU |
13-29 (.448) |
35 |
W, 82-68 |
| TXST |
16-32 (.500) |
40 |
W, 69-67 |
| TXST |
15-34 (.441) |
44 |
W, 72-65 |
| ASU |
21-33 (.636) |
50 |
W, 90-87 |
| TOTAL |
159-322 (.494) |
425 |
11-0 |
UTA combined to shoot 49 of 150 (.326) and shot under 40% for the half in their four of their five losses.
SHARING THE ROCK
Two all-time great guards continue to make their mark in the history book as
Katie Ferrell and
Terryn Milton continue to climb up the all-time assist ranks.
With an assist in the third quarter against Rice on Dec. 4, 2021, Ferrell tied Terra Wallace for second all-time in career assists with 409. Ferrell moved into sole possession of second place early in the first quarter against Oklahoma State on Dec. 17, 2021.
Against #13/17 South Florida on Dec. 2, 2021, Ferrell became the third Lady Mav in school history to eclipse 400 career assists.
Ferrell will have an outside chance to become the all-time leader in assists as she is 113 behind Krystal Buchanan. She is 52 away from eclipsing 500 career assissts.
Meanwhile, with her fifth assist in the third quarter against Texas State on Thursday night, Milton moved to fifth all-time in career assists, passing Tamara Simmons. Milton now sits at 342 assists in her career.
Milton has jumped three spots in three contests, moving from eighth all the way to fifth in the month of January.
Milton is 11 assists away from passing Paige Smithers-Wojciak and moving to fourth all-time.
She had a season-high nine assists against Sam Houston on Nov. 13, where she became the ninth Lady Mav in school history to eclipse 300 career assists.
Milton, along with Ferrell, has become the second duo in school history from the same recruiting class to each have 300 or more assists in a career. Tamara Simmons and Shalyn Martin accomplished this feat in 2011.
Milton and Ferrell passed Simmons and Martin for the most assists by a duo in school history against Houston on Nov. 17 at 676. They became the first duo to surpass 700 combined assists in the win over UNLV on Nov. 27.
Ferrell is currently fourth in the SBC in assists with 4.4 per game, while Milton is fifth in the Sun Belt in assists per game with 3.8.
| Player |
Year |
Assists |
| 1. Krystal Buchanan |
2001-05 |
561 |
| 2. Katie Ferrell |
2018-pres. |
448 |
| 3. Terra Wallace |
2003-07 |
409 |
| 4. Paige Smithers-Wojciak |
1982-86 |
366 |
| 5. Terryn Milton |
2018-pres. |
355 |
| 6. Tamara Simmons |
2007-11 |
341 |
| 7. Shalyn Martin |
2007-11 |
334 |
| 8. Gale Haynes |
1993-97 |
332 |
| 9. Cierra Johnson |
2014-19 |
315 |
| 10. Carolyn Smith |
1977-81 |
282 |
AMONG THE ELITE
UTA has been one of the top teams in the Sun Belt Conference year in and year out since joining the league in 2013-14. The Lady Mavs have been .500 or better every year except their very first season and have currently won 10 or more conference games in seven straight seasons, a conference-leading mark they hold with Troy.
1. Little Rock: 116
2. Troy: 109
3. UTA: 96
4. Arkansas State: 85
5. Louisiana: 82
6. Texas State: 81
7. South Alabama: 63
8. Georgia State: 60
9. App State: 59
10. Coastal Carolina: 43
11. Georgia Southern: 33
12. ULM: 31
FOLLOW ALONG
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