ARLINGTON – The UT Arlington women's basketball team prepares for its final weekend of the regular season with a regular season crown still on the line as they take on Little Rock on Friday morning inside the College Park center.
 

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UT Arlington Game Notes  ///  Little Rock Game Notes

3-POINTERS

• After more icy conditions in the Dallas metro pushed back the final weekend of play, the UT Arlington women's basketball team looks to potentially clinch their fifth Sun Belt Regular Season Title, needing a little help in the process. They start things on Friday morning with an 11 a.m. tip with Little Rock inside the College Park Center.
• It will be 20th and final regular season conference meeting between UTA and Little Rock. The Lady Mavs defeated Little Rock on the road, 64-53, on Jan. 29, 2022 behind 24 points from Starr Jacobs. Little Rock leads the series 12-7, but UTA has won three of the last four meeting and five of the last seven.
• UTA will need some help if they want to clinch a SBC Title. On top of winning their two tough match-ups this week, they also need a Troy loss to either App State on Thursday or Coastal Carolina on Saturday.

LAST TIME OUT: COASTAL CAROLINA

• It was a total team effort last Saturday afternoon as the UTA used a dominant second half to pull away and knock off Coastal on the road, 70-61, inside the HTC Center.
• After only getting to the free throw line four times in the first half, UTA got to the line 24 times in the second half, going 15 of 24.
• Though it was still not the average they were hoping for in the second half, the Lady Mavs were an impressive 10 of 12 in the third quarter alone to help build a lead.
• The Lady Mavs had 23 points off 17 Coastal turnovers.
• UTA also held a 25-12 advantage in fastbreak points on the afternoon.
• The Chants held a 27-21 in rebounds in the first half, but the Lady Mavs won the battle in the second half, outrebounding Coastal 23-22.
• Starr Jacobs scored 14 of her 16 total points in the second half as she finished 5 of 9 from the field on the afternoon.
• Emma Halverson knocked down her first 3-pointer of the season.
• The Lady Mavs are 6-0 this season in games following a loss. UTA is 10-2 overall in Coach Wright's two-year tenure.
• Shyia Smith has begun to return to full form as she now averages 10.5 points per game in her last four contests.
• UTA's 44 rebounds in the third-most this season. The Lady Mavs have pulled down 40 or more rebounds in three of the last four games.
• The Lady Mavs 15 offensive boards are the second-most this season. They have pulled down 10 or more offensive boards in four straight games.

SCOUTING LITTLE ROCK

• Little Rock comes in at 14-8 overall and 7-3 in Sun Belt play, winning six straight games. The Trojans' last loss actually came at the hands of UT Arlington on Jan. 29 in Little Rock, 64-53.
• The Trojans are 6-0 in the month of February, but only four of those wins come against Sun Belt opponents. Little Rock has defeated Louisiana, ULM, and A-State all on the road and also notched a home win over their rivals from Jonesboro. They also added a pair of wins over Philander Smith and Champion Christian.
• Seeding will be a huge play going into Thursday as the top four teams in the Sun Belt all face off against each other. Little Rock, currently sitting fourth, takes on UTA, who is currently second. Troy, the top team in the conference, battles App State, currently third, in Boone.
• As it has been for years, defense is the key for Little Rock in nearly every contest they play in. The Trojans come in 49th in the country in scoring defense as they hold opponents to 57.3 points per game, also good for first in the Sun Belt. That has also translated into the conference season.
• However, as good as the defense is, the offense can sometimes be the issue for the Trojans. In their loss to UTA in January, Little Rock had a season-low for UTA opponents of 53 points and was hampered by turnovers all afternoon.
• Sali Kourouma is third in the conference in points per game with 17.0 and has been the main offensive threat all season long for Little Rock. Mayra Caicedo checks in at second in the conference in assists per game with 5.0 and is second in total minutes played this season.
• Head Coach Joe Foley has over 800 wins in his illustrious coaching career and currently ranks fourth among active head coaches in wins.
• It will be the final meeting in Sun Belt play for both the Lady Mavs and the Trojans as both break off their separate ways to new homes. UT Arlington is heading west to the WAC starting in the fall, while Little Rock sets its sights on the OVC beginning this fall.

ROAD WARRIORS\
The Lady Mavs have been unbelievable on the road this season. After a win at Coastal Carolina on Feb. 19, UTA concluded the best true road record in program history at 9-2, good for an .818 winning percentage.

During a stretch that played over December and January, UTA went 6-2 on the road, including an impressive 6-1 road mark in conference play. Head Coach Shereka Wright has now produced two straight seasons of winning records on the road.
 

Season	Record	Win %
2021-22	9-2	.818
2020-21	5-4	.555
2019-20	9-4	.692
2018-19	12-4	.750
2017-18	5-9	.357
2016-17	9-5	.642
2015-16	8-7	.533
2014-15	7-7	.500
2013-14	1-14	.066

UTA was terrific on the road in conference play, going 7-1 this season with its only loss coming by one point.

100 DUBS
With the win over Coastal Carolina on Saturday, UT Arlington became the third school since 2013-14 when they joined the conference, to reach 100 Sun Belt victories, joining SBC powerhouses Little Rock and Troy.

They also became one of two schools to currently have eight straight 10 win SBC seasons, joining Troy in that mark.

Head Coach Shereka Wright is only the second coach in school history to start her career with back-to-back 10 win seasons in conference play, joining Samantha Morrow.


FIVE STARR
Starr Jacobs has put together an unbelievable season by every metric thus far for the Lady Mavs.

Jacobs is 16th in the country in points per game (20.4) and is on pace to become the first player in school history to average 20+ points per game in a season. She is ranked 27th nationally in field goals made (180), 24th in field goal percentage (.549), 53rd in total points (448), and 38th in free throw attempts (142). She is also in the Top 65 in steals per game with 2.27.

Jacobs has scored 10 or more points in all 22 contests this season and has scored 20 or more points in 11 games this season, including two games with 30 or more points. Additionally, Jacobs has made five or more field goals in every single contest this season and shot above 50% in 16 of 22 games.

She is averaging 21.2 points per game in conference play on 103 of 199 (.518) shooting from the field.

Jacobs is now a four-time SBC Player of the Week selection this season. She scored 32 in a huge road win over Arkansas State on Jan. 27 before following that up with 33 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, three assists, and a block in the win over App State on Feb. 6.

Jacobs has scattered her name all over the record book this season. She has third-most made field goals in a game (14), as well as sixth and 11th, the third most field goal attempts in a game (25), the 10th most points in a game (33), and is heading towards becoming the first player in school history to average over 20 points per game in a season.

DOING IT ALL
Senior Claire Chastain has been getting involved in many different ways the last few weeks, hitting numerous career highs in different categories throughout the conference season.

Chastain hit a new career-high in rebounds on Jan. 15 against Georgia Southern, pulling down 13 total rebounds, including 11 defensive boards, the 10th most all-time in a single game. She finished with 15 points, all coming in the second half to lead a come-from-behind effort.

She then began to get it done with assists as she went for a new career-high with seven against App State on Feb. 6 before following that up with five a few days later against ULM on Feb. 10.

She kept that going into the Louisiana game on Feb. 12 as it was a block party for Chastain, going for a career-high five blocks against the Cajuns, the fourth-most in a single game in school history.

Chastain was at it again against Coastal, going for a season-high three steals in the win.


BIG KAT RANGE
Senior Katie Ferrell has caught fire from beyond the arc as of late.

After going 2 of 18 (.111) to start the year from deep, Ferrell has gone 16 of 30 (.533) from beyond the arc during the conference season, good for tops in the Sun Belt.

Ferrell has knocked down two or more 3-pointers in five conference contests, including three 3-pointers against Georgia Southern on Jan. 15. Her recent spurt has pushed her 3-point percentage near 40% as she is now 18 of 48 (.375) beyond the arc this season.


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 21st in the country in total turnovers with only 310 this season (14.1 per game). They have only turned it over 20 or more times once this season and have only gone over 15 turnovers as a team eight times.

UTA is first in the Sun Belt in assist-turnover ratio at 1.11 this season, good for 38th in the nation. In their 21 games played this season, UTA is 14-1 when they have a plus assists-turnover ratio and 11-1 overall when they have at least 15 assists or more as a team.

The Lady Mavs are 2-5 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 20 of 22 games this season, including 26 against App State on Feb. 6, the fourth-most in a single game.

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 and both in the Top 30 nationally.

Milton sits at 11th in the country with a 2.60 assist-turnover ratio, while Ferrell is 28th in the nation at 2.27. In conference play, Milton has bolstered an incredible 2.9 assist-turnover ratio in conference play, easily the best in the Sun Belt.

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 10th in the country with a 2.56 assist-turnover ratio, while Ferrell is 18th in the nation at 2.40. In conference play, Milton has bolstered an incredible 2.9 assist-turnover ratio in conference play, easily the best in the Sun Belt.


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 92 behind Krystal Buchanan. She is 31 away from eclipsing 500 career assists.

Meanwhile, with her 10th assist in the fourth quarter against App State, senior Terryn Milton has moved to fourth all-time in career assists as she matches Paige Smithers-Wojciak with 366. Milton passed Smither-Wojciak with her first assists in the first quarter against ULM on Thursday.

Milton has jumped four spots in the past two months, moving from eighth all the way to fourth in the months of January and February.

Milton is 31 assists away from passing Terra Wallace and moving to third all-time, and 22 assists from eclipsing 400 career assists..

She had a season-high 10 assists against App State, putting together a masterful performance in leading to a double-double with 18 points and 10 dishes.

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 third in the SBC in assists with 4.6 per game, while Milton is fifth in the Sun Belt in assists per game with 4.1.
 

Player	Year	Assists
1. Krystal Buchanan	2001-05	561
2. Katie Ferrell	2018-pres.	469
3. Terra Wallace	2003-07	409
4. Terryn Milton	2018-pres.	378
5. Paige Smithers-Wojciakl	1982-86	366
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

MISS DO-IT-ALL 
Katie Ferrell continues to flash her all-time brilliance as one of the best all-around players in UTA Lady Mavs history.

After surpassing 500 points in her career recently, Ferrell is the only player in UTA history to have 500+ points (505), 500+ rebounds (660), 400+ assists (469), 200+ steals (205), and 75+ blocks (78).

 

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 eight straight seasons, a conference-leading mark they hold with Troy.

1. Little Rock: 120
2. Troy: 113
3. UTA: 100
4. Arkansas State: 86
    Louisiana: 86
6. Texas State: 85
7. South Alabama: 63
8. App State: 62
9. Georgia State: 61
10. Coastal Carolina: 44
11. Georgia Southern: 37
12. ULM: 31 

FOLLOW ALONG
For updates, behind-the-scenes photos, videos and more engaging and personal content, be sure to follow the women's basketball program on Twitter (@UTAMavsWBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsWBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsWBB).