PENSACOLA, Fla. – The No. 2 seed UT Arlington women's basketball team returns to action on Sunday, March 6 as they take on No. 3 seed Louisiana in the Sun Belt Conference Semifinals at 2 p.m. inside the Pensacola Bay Center.
3-POINTERS
- It's tournament time at the Lady Mavs enter the month of March. UT Arlington is the No. 2 seed at the upcoming SBC Tournament, tied for their highest seeding since joining the Sun Belt (No. 2 in 2017 and 2019). UTA holds a 2-2 record as the No. 2 seed at the SBC Tournament.
- UTA will take on No. 3 Louisiana in the Sun Belt Conference Semifinals on Sunday, March 6 inside the Pensacola Bay Center. The two sides split their series meeting with both teams earning a win on the road. UTA held off Louisiana for a 62-60 win in Lafayette on Dec. 30, while the Cajuns returned the favor in Arlington on Feb. 12 with a 62-57 win.
- UTA is 3-7 all-time in the Sun Belt Tournament with their third appearance in the semifinals, which they are 0-2 in. The Lady Mavs look to snap a tough skid as of late in the postseason as they have lost five of their last seven games at the SBC Tournament.
LAST MEETING AGAINST LOUISIANA
- The UT Arlington women's basketball team could not overcome an 8-0 run late in the fourth quarter as Louisiana escaped the College Park Center 62-57 last Saturday afternoon.
- UTA saw their six game winning streak snapped.
- Senior Claire Chastain's five blocks are a new career-high.
- Senior Katie Ferrell had four assists in the first five minutes of the contest. She finished with seven.
- The Lady Mavs shot 24 of 63 (.381) from the field, ending a string of eight straight games shooting 40% or better.
- The Lady Mavs were abysmal at the free throw line on Saturday afternoon, shooting a season-low 6 of 16.
- UTA also finished with 17 turnovers on the afternoon to only 15 assists. They are 1-5 with a negative assist-turnover ratio.
- Louisiana shot 8 of 12 from the field in the fourth quarter and 8 of 13 from the free throw line, enough to close out the win.
- UTA outrebounded Louisiana, 43-46, including 15 offensive boards. It is the first time they have lost this season when outrebounding their opponent.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
UTA carries a 20-30 overall mark in conference tournament play between the Southland, WAC, and Sun Belt. The Lady Mavs have made four appearances in the championship game, all coming in the Southland, and have made 15 appearances in the semifinals, including two of those appearances coming in the Sun Belt.
UTA has struggled as of late in tournament play, losing five of their last six games with three of those losses coming in the first contest as the higher seed. The Lady Mavs fell last season to App State, 54-46, and fell as the No. 2 seed to South Alabama in 2019. UTA was also upset in 2018 at the No. 3 seed as they fell to Louisiana.
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 oustanding 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.
Jacobs is 18th in the nation in points per game, 22nd in the nation in field goals made (194), 25th in the nation in field goal percentage, 28th in the nation in free throw attempts (159), 46th in the nation in total points, and 67th in the nation in steals per game with 2.29.
Jacobs has scored 10 or more points in all 24 contests this season and has scored 20 or more points in 14 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 18 of 24 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 averages 11.9 points per game 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 has been a big piece in UTA being one of the best teams at protecting the basketball as she is 12th in the country with an outstanding assist-turnover ratio of 2.59.
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. She currently sits with 393 assists and can become the fourth player to surpass 400 career assists in school history, joining teammate
Katie Ferrell.
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 this past weekend.
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 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.
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 19 of 50 (.380) 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 24th in the country in total turnovers with only 338 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 nine times.
UTA is first in the Sun Belt in assist-turnover ratio at 1.12 this season, good for 33rd in the nation. In their 24 games played this season, UTA is 15-2 when they have a plus assists-turnover ratio and 12-2 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 22 of 24 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 12th in the country with a 2.59 assist-turnover ratio, while Ferrell is 31st in the nation at 2.23. 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 87 behind Krystal Buchanan. She is 26 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 16 assists away from passing Terra Wallace and moving to third all-time, and seven assists from eclipsing 400 career assists..
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.
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. |
479 |
| 3. Terra Wallace |
2003-07 |
409 |
| 4. Terryn Milton |
2018-pres. |
397 |
| 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 |
MS. 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 (512), 500+ rebounds (668), 400+ assists (474), 200+ steals (208), and 75+ blocks (79).
She is in the Top 10 in the school record book for career numbers in every category except points.
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: 121
2. Troy: 115
3. UTA: 101
4. Louisiana: 88
5. Arkansas State: 87
6. Texas State: 86
7. South Alabama: 63
App State: 63
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).
