ARLINGTON – The UT Arlington women's basketball team will honor six seniors on Saturday afternoon for Senior Day as they welcome in Arkansas State for the regular season finale inside the College Park Center.
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: LITTLE ROCK
- Four UT Arlington women's basketball players were in double figures as a second half run was enough to push the Lady Mavs to a win over Little Rock on Friday morning at the College Park Center, securing the No. 2 seed at next week's Sun Belt Tournament.
- UTA was 17 of 24 from the free throw line, while Little Rock only got to the line two times, both coming on an intentional foul in the first half.
- The Lady Mavs started an abysmal 4 of 15 (.267) from the field, but went 18 of 37 (.486) the rest of the way.
- UTA only fouled nine times on the afternoon, a season-low.
- The Lady Mavs outrebounded Little Rock 34-31, including 12 offensive boards that results in 16 second chance points.
- UTA has outrebounded its opponents in six of their last seven games.
- Though the game saw seven ties and six lead changes, the Lady Mavs led for over 28 minutes of the contest.
- Four Lady Mavs scored in double figures while Jacobs finished at +16 and Benjamin finished at +10.
- It will likely be the final meeting between UTA and Little Rock, barring the Sun Belt Tournament, as both teams head to a new conference next season. The Lady Mavs have won four of the last five over the Trojans.
- It was Starr Jacobs lowest point outing in conference play, but still a double digit effort, something she has done in all 23 games this season.
- De'Sha Benjamin increased her scoring average since coming off the bench to 11.9 PPG, posting double-digit performances in six of nine games.
- Benjamin has hit at least one 3-pointer in five straight games and has knocked down two in four of her last five games. She is shooting 15 of 39 (.385) in conference play.
- With two blocks on Friday, Claire Chastain hit 19 total blocks on the season, matching her previous three seasons of blocks combined.
SCOUTING ARKANSAS STATE
- Arkansas State comes in on a three game losing streak, including a loss on Thursday evening at Texas State. The Red Wolves sit at 11-15 overall and 4-9 in the Sun Belt.
- In the first meeting between UTA and A-State, Morgan Wallace notched a triple-double, the first player to do so since Rudy Sims in 2006.
- Trinitee Jackson continues to be one of the most improved players in the Sun Belt in 2021-22, where she is averaging the most minutes of her career (21.5), and as a result, becoming a force in the post in the Sun Belt Conference. Jackson leads the Sun Belt with 4.0 offensive rebounds per game (18th in NCAA), while ranking fourth in total rebounds (209) and third in rebounds per game (8.7).
- Over the last 16 games, Jireh Washington has been playing in a completely different gear, averaging 14.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from deep. In the six games prior, she averaged just 8.3 points and 1.3 boards.
- Arkansas State is among the nation's best at getting the free-throw line this season, ranking inside the top 30 nationally with 524 free-throw attempts (30th) and 375 made free throws (29th), ranking third in the Sun Belt in both.
- Both Morgan Wallace and Jireh Washington became 1,000 point scorers earlier this year.
- Destinee Rogers has stepped in as the program's interim head coach for the remainder of the regular season after the sudden resignation by now-former head coach Matt Daniel on Monday night. Rogers was tapped as interim on Dec. 14 prior to A-State's 81-47 victory of MVSU. Rogers has been on staff at A-State since 2019-20, being promoted to Associate Head Coach prior to last year.
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 88 behind Krystal Buchanan. She is 27 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 27 assists away from passing Terra Wallace and moving to third all-time, and 18 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. |
473 |
| 3. Terra Wallace |
2003-07 |
409 |
| 4. Terryn Milton |
2018-pres. |
382 |
| 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: 114
3. UTA: 101
4. Louisiana: 87
5. Arkansas State: 86
Texas State: 86
7. South Alabama: 63
8. App State: 62
9. Georgia State: 61
10. Coastal Carolina: 45
11. Georgia Southern: 38
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).
