ARLINGTON, Texas --- Kayla White poured in a game-high 17 points in just 19 minutes to lead six players in double-figures as the UT Arlington women's basketball team produced an historic scoring performance in a 102-53 win over Texas Southern in its season opener inside the College Park Center (CPC) on Monday.
 
The 102 points represented the most the program has ever produced in a season opener and fell just one shy of the overall single-game record. It was the eighth time the Lady Mavs have reached the century mark in 50-plus seasons of basketball. In fact, it was the most points they've scored in a game in nearly 25 years dating back to a 102-point outing against UTRGV on Jan. 26, 1998.
 
As a team, UTA finished 37-for-71 (.579) from the field, including a 9-for-21 (.429) performance from long distance. They committed just 10 turnovers while outscoring Texas Southern 36-5 in points off turnovers and 48-18 in the paint. Moreover, they never trailed and led by as many as 54 late in the game.

"I'm so proud of the team responding to the challenge I gave them this week, understanding who we are," UT Arlington head coach Shereka Wright said. "One of the things I talked about was energy. This team is exciting to watch, and I'm excited as it starts to come together, as we start to gel our pieces. I'm just glad we had a chance to see all of our players on the bench tonight. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of different players in a lot of different areas, so I am excited and pleased with what I saw."
 
White, who finished 7-of-13 from the field (3-of-4 from 3-point range), also produced six rebounds (four offensive), three assists and two steals in her UT Arlington debut. Starr Jacobs finished second in scoring with 16 on an efficient 7-of-10 from the field with two steals and two assists. De'Sha Benjamin added 14 points, a game-high seven boards and two steals.
 
Jireh Washington notched a new career-high in assists (11) while tallying her second career double-double as over half (7) of her 12 points came from the foul line. The team's fifth starter, Shyia Smith, opened the game's scoring with a steal and layup before finishing with seven points and three boards.
 
Off the bench, the duo of Kamaria Gipson and Taleyah Jones each tallied double-figure scoring performances in their UT Arlington debuts. Gipson, a transfer from San Diego State, led all bench scorers with 11 on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting while the true freshman, Jones, shot 4-of-7 for 10 points.
 
In all, 12 different players reached the scoring column with no one playing over 21 minutes. In addition to Jones, three other freshmen scored their first collegiate points - Nya Threatt (4 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds), Alexsyah Goudeau (3 points, 3 rebounds) and Nicole Sanfilippo (1 point, 2 rebounds). Another rookie, Bella Ringenberg, also saw her first action, recording a game-high two blocks in 12 minutes. Cassidee Kinslow, who didn't see action in her first year with the Lady Mavs last year, tallied one rebound in four minutes in what was her debut.
 
A pair of sophomores also contributed to the win as Jordyn Turner had four points and six rebounds while Reniya Jones had three points.
 
The Lady Mavs opened the game with eight straight points before concluding the first quarter on a 12-2 run to open up a 31-15 lead. The lead grew to 25 at the half on a jumper from Threatt in the final minute. In fact, her bucket opened a 19-0 run that spanned two quarters and saw UT Arlington increase its lead to 75-33 with 5:34 left in the third.
 
NEXT UP
UTA will remain home this week, welcoming D-I newcomer Texas A&M - Commerce to the College Park Center on Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. start. That contest will be sandwiched in the middle of a tripleheader at the CPC which begins with volleyball at 11 a.m. versus Southern Utah and concludes with a men's game against Southwestern at 7:30 p.m.
 
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