AMES, Iowa – The No. 14 seed UT Arlington women's basketball team opens up the First Round of the NCAA Tournament against the No. 3 seed Iowa State Cyclones on Friday evening at 9 p.m. inside the Hilton Coliseum.
 

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UT Arlington Game Notes  ///  Iowa State Game Notes

3-POINTERS

• The UT Arlington Lady Mavs are going dancing for the first time since 2007 as they defeated Troy in the Sun Belt Tournament title game, 76-61, to claim their first Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship and earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
• UTA is the No. 14 seed and will meet the No. 3 seed Iowa State Cyclones inside the Hilton Coliseum on Friday, Mar. 18 in Ames. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Lady Mavs and the Cyclones and UTA's first-ever meeting with any team from the state of Iowa.
• UTA is 0-2 all-time in NCAA Tournament contests with a loss to Texas A&M, 58-50, on Mar. 17, 2007, in Los Angeles, and a loss to Texas Tech, 69-49, in Dallas on Mar. 19, 2005. The Lady Mavs were a 13 seed in both contests, while their opponents were four seeds.

MATCH-UP NOTES

• It will be the first-ever meeting between UT Arlington and Iowa State as it comes at the NCAA Tournament.
• It will also be UTA's first-ever meeting in the state of Iowa in the history of the program.
• The game will feature two players who average over 20 points per game in UTA's Starr Jacobs (21.1) and Iowa State's Ashley Joens (20.2).UTA only fouled nine times on the afternoon, a season-low.
• The Lady Mavs have taken on two Big 12 teams this season, falling to Baylor at home in the opener on Nov. 11, 81-54, and dropping a road contest to Oklahoma State on Dec. 17, 61-46. 
• UTA's last win over a Power 5 opponent came in the Big 12 as they knocked off Kansas State in Manhattan, 57-53, on Nov. 24, 2019.
• The Lady Mavs are 0-2 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, while Iowa State is 19-19 and making their third straight NCAA appearance.
• UTA comes off an incredible SBC Tournament, where in three games, UTA led for 113 minutes and 36 seconds, while opponents only led for 5 minutes and 57 seconds.
• Iowa State was ousted in the Big 12 Semifinals by eventual tournament champions Texas. The Cyclones are a combined 0-5 against Texas and Baylor.

SUN BELT CHAMPIONS

• The UT Arlington women's basketball team made it a memorable final trip around the sun as the 2nd-seeded Lady Mavericks raced out to a double-figure lead in the first quarter and never cooled off en route to dominant 76-61 victory over top-seeded Troy Monday inside the Pensacola Bay Center to win the 2022 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Championship.
• UTA closes its run in the Sun Belt with its first championship in women's basketball, making an incredible run throughout the tournament where they won each game by nine points or more.
• UTA moved to 20-7 overall and claims its first 20 win season since 2019-20. It was UTA's fourth 20 win season since joining the the Sun Belt in 2013-14.
• UTA's three tournament wins came over teams which defeated the Lady Mavs in the regular season in Georgia Southern, Louisiana and Troy.
• Troy came in as the No. 1 rebounding team in the nation, but UTA out-boarded the Trojans, 51-46.
• UTA was a blazing 10 of 20 from the field in the first half, including four 3-pointers.
• UTA is now 3-2 all-time in conference championship games.
• Shereka Wright became the first women's basketball coach in school history to take home a conference title in two years on the job.

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.

JACOBS CROWNED PLAYER OF THE YEAR 
Starr Jacobs was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year as well as First Team All-SBC after what's been an outstanding seasons from the junior forward.

She has been nothing short of outstanding this season.

Jacobs, a junior from Dallas and former Duncanville product, finished the regular season with 20.3 points per game on .551 shooting from the field to go with 6.2 rebounds and 2.3 steals. She is the first player in Lady Mavs history to finish the regular season averaging 20 points or more and will look to finish through the postseason with that threshold. She averaged 20.9 points per game in conference play and shot .525 from the field while pulling down 6.3 boards.

She followed that up with a masterpiece of a performance in the SBC Tournament, averaging 28.0 points per game and 10.0 boards per game to win the Sun Belt Championship and be named Tournament MVP. 

Jacobs scored 28 points in all three contests and is believed to be the first player in school history to score 25 or more points in three straight games. 

Jacobs now sits 12th in the nation in points per game at 21.1, 16th in the nation in field goals made (225), 28th in the nation in field goal percentage (.547), 19th in the nation in free throw attempts (190), 28th in the nation in total points (570), and 63rd in the nation in steals per game with 2.26.

Jacobs has scored 10 or more points in all 27 contests this season and has scored 20 or more points in 16 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 20 of 27 games.

Jacobs is 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. She was also named to the NCAA Starting 5 after her terrific performance against App State.

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.


WRIGHT NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR
Head Coach Shereka Wright was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Lady Mavs.

Wright becomes the second coach to earn SBC Coach of the Year as Krista Gerlich earned that distinction during the 2018-19 season.

Wright led UTA to a 17-7 record, including an 11-4 mark in conference play to finish second this season. She became the second coach in school history to lead UTA to back-to-back 10-win seasons in conference play in her first two seasons (Samantha Morrow).

Wright helped bolster an incredible road record this season as she led her squad to a school-record 9-2 true road record, good for an impressive .818 win percentage away from home.


MILTON NAMED TO 2ND TEAM ALL-SBC
Terryn Milton earned a spot on the Second Team All-SBC Team after the point guard finished with an incredible season.

Milton, a senior from Owasso, has put together a career year in her final season.

Milton averaged 12.0 points per game in the regular season to go with 4.7 boards, 4.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and is shooting .468 from the field and .389 from beyond the arc. 

Milton followed that up with a terrific performance in the Sun Belt Tournament, adding All-Tournament honors to her list of accolades. 

Milton has been a big piece in UTA being one of the best teams at protecting the basketball as she is 18th in the country with an outstanding assist-turnover ratio of 2.42.

Meanwhile, Milton has shot up the career assists numbers in the school's record book, going from ninth when she started the season all the way up to fourth, where she currently sits.

Milton has completely rewritten her career-high in 2021-22, finishing with new marks in points (26 vs. Houston), field goals made (four times this season), rebounds (10 vs. Troy), free throws made (10 vs. Houston), steals (five vs. ULM), blocks (four at Georgia Southern), and double-doubles (three this season). She almost tied her career mark in assists as she had 11 on Senior Day against Arkansas State on Feb. 26.


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 and now in the SBC Tournament.

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 on Feb. 19l, going for a season-high three steals in the win and followed that up with a season-high 16 points against Arkansas State on Feb. 26. 

Chastain hit season-highs in the Sun Belt Tournament in 3-point shooting as she had back-to-back games with three 3-pointers made in the wins over Georgia Southern and Louisiana.


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 17 of 32 (.531) 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 24 of 64 (.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 33rd in the country in total turnovers with only 383 this season (14.2 per game). They have only turned it over 20 or more times twice this season and have only gone over 15 turnovers as a team 10 times.

UTA is first in the Sun Belt in assist-turnover ratio at 1.11 this season, good for 39th in the nation. In their 27 games played this season, UTA is 17-2 when they have a plus assists-turnover ratio and 13-2 overall when they have at least 15 assists or more as a team. 

The Lady Mavs are 3-5 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 25 of 27 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 25 nationally.

Milton sits at 18th in the country with a 2.42 assist-turnover ratio, while Ferrell is 25th in the nation at 2.33. 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 71 behind Krystal Buchanan and 10 away from hitting 500 career assists.

Meanwhile, with her third assist against Louisiana on Mar. 6, 2022, Terryn Milton became the fourth player in school history and the second player this season to surpass 400 career assists, joining teammate Katie Ferrell. Milton moved into fourth all-time in career assist against App State on Feb. 6, 2022.

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

Milton is one assist away from passing Terra Wallace and moving to third all-time.

She had a pair of double-digit assist performances, going for 10 against App State before following that with 11 against Arkansas State, earning a double-double in both contests.

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. They then became the only duo to have 400 or more assists from the same recruiting class.

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 4.5 per game, while Milton is fifth in the Sun Belt in assists per game with 4.2.
 

Player	Year	Assists
1. Krystal Buchanan	2001-05	561
2. Katie Ferrell	2018-pres.	490
3. Terra Wallace	2003-07	409
4. Terryn Milton	2018-pres.	408
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

WHAT CAN'T SHE DO?
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 (535), 500+ rebounds (687), 400+ assists (490), 200+ steals (210), and 80+ blocks (80). 

She is in the Top 10 in the school record book for career numbers in every category except points.

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).