ARLINGTON, Texas --- The UT Arlington women's basketball team (7-9, 1-3 WAC) will host Grand Canyon University (11-4, 3-1 WAC) on Thursday at 7 p.m. inside the College Park Center.
Fans will be able to take advantage of Daddy-Daughter Date Night, where you can purchase two game tickets and a $10 concession voucher for just $16.
STORYLINES
- Thursday's matchup will be the first all-time meeting between UT Arlington and Grand Canyon. The visiting Antelopes started competition in the 1988-89 season as an NAIA program before elevating to NCAA Division II play in 1991. Eventually, GCU began their Division I transition in 2013, joining the WAC on July 1 of that year. They are 471-488 all-time.
- The Lady Mavs are 1-3 to open conference play and trying to avoid losing at least four of their first five conference games since the 2013-14 team started 0-8.
- Through four games so far, defense is where UTA can turn it around as they currently rank among the lower half of the conference in the following defensive categories:
- Field goal percentage allowed - 8th
- Rebounding - 10th
- 3-point field goal percentage allowed - 11th
- Scoring defense - 13th
- Grand Canyon ranks among the WAC's top five in the following defensive categories: 3-point field goal percentage allowed (1st), scoring defense (3rd), rebounding (4th) and field goal percentage allowed (5th).
- The three teams that UT Arlington has lost to in conference play rank 3rd (Abilene Christian), 4th (UTRGV) and T-6th (CBU) in 3-point field goals made among WAC teams in league play.
- Offensively, UT Arlington been led by the duo of Starr Jacobs and Kayla White, who are averaging a combined 35.8 PPG over four conference games. On top of that, Jacobs is one of just two WAC players with multiple double-doubles (2) in WAC play. Utah Valley's Jaeden Brown ranks first with three.
- UTA is coming off a loss to Abilene Christian, where they allowed the Wildcats to shoot 14-of-35 from long distance - the most 3-pointers the Lady Mavs have allowed in a game in at least eight years. Thursday's game represents another similar challenge as Grand Canyon is 103-for-334 (.308) from 3-point range and their top three players in made 3-pointers - Naudia Evans (20), Laila McLeod (17) and Sydney Palma (16) - have more than the highest producer for UTA, which is De'Sha Benjamin with 14 of the team's 58 total. As a team, the Lady Mavs rank 11th in the conference in shots made from long distance. GCU is tied for sixth.
INDIVIDUAL NOTABLES
- Jireh Washington, who has scored in double-digits in each of the past three games after re-entering the starting lineup, has produced at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists three times this year, including two of the past three games.
- Taleyah Jones, who registered the sixth double-digit scoring performance of her rookie season against Abilene Christian, is averaging 8.5 points in conference play, which makes her the fourth-leading true freshman scorer in the WAC behind Grace Schmidt (CBU, 19 PPG), Jordan Harrison (SFA, 15.3 PPG) and Kyla Deck (SFA, 10.33 PPG). Seattle's Mya Moore (7 PPG) is fifth.
- Starr Jacobs, who erupted for a 28-point, 13-rebound double-double against Abilene Christian on Saturday, has opened conference play on a tear as the senior forward is averaging 20.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and three steals per game while shooting .617 from the field and .750 from the foul line over four games. Among WAC individuals in conference play alone, she ranks third in scoring, fourth in rebounding, fifth in steals, third in field goal percentage and 11th in free throw percentage. On top of that, she is one of just two players in the conference as of Tuesday (Jaeden Brown, Utah Valley) ranked among the top five in scoring, rebounding, steals, field goal percentage and offensive rebounds (4th, 4.25).
- Kayla White has produced double-digit scoring in nine of the past 10 games, a stretch that has included a pair of 20-plus point efforts. In the Dec. 31 win over Tarleton, she registered season-bests in points (21) and field goal percentage (.643), and she's currently the 11th-highest scorer in WAC play at 15.3 points per contest.
- Shyia Smith made her 16th straight start to open the campaign against Abilene Christian, and she is the only Lady Mav to start every game. Overall, it was her 30th-consecutive start dating back to Jan. 20, 2022 against Texas State.
A STARR BEYOND ARLINGTON
Senior forward
Starr Jacobs had quite the debut last year in her first season as a Lady Mav after a WBCA All-American JUCO career at Temple College, earning Sun Belt Player of the Year recognition along with becoming a four-time SBC Player of the Week, landing a spot on the NCAA's Starting 5 (2/9) and being named First Team All-Texas and Dave Campbell's Texas Junior of the Year.
In 2021-22, Jacobs was:
- The only player in the nation to average at least 21 points, two steals and 1.5 assists per game while shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
- One of just two players nationally along with DePaul's Aneesah Morrow to average at least 21 points, two steals and shoot at least 50 percent from the field.
- One of two players along with Michigan's Naz Hillmon to average 21 points, 1.5 assists and shoot at least 50 percent from the field.
This season, Jacobs carried that momentum over, being named the WAC's Preseason Player of the Year by the media and ESPN.com while becoming the first player in program history to be named to the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Preseason Watch List.
And so far, Jacobs has produced again this year.
- Double-figure scoring in 14 of 16 games
- Three games with 20-plus points, including a season-best 29 against Toledo
- Career-high 14 rebounds against California Baptist
- Four double-doubles
- .524 field goal percentage
- Leads team in scoring, rebounding and steals per game
OFFENSIVE POWERHOUSE
Fifth-year guard
Kayla White has had a tremendous start to the season after transferring in from Southern Methodist. The team's second leading scorer at 13.5 per game, she leads the Lady Mavs in 3-point percentage (.353) while ranking second in field goals made (70) and third in free throw percentage (.698). She poured in a season-best 21 against Tarleton, a team-best 16 points in a key road win over Houston that included several big baskets down the stretch and 20 points in a home win over Texas. Despite missing a pair of games due to illness, she has totaled double-digit points in nine of the past 10 outings.
HEATING BACK UP
After missing five games due to an injury, fifth-year point guard
Jireh Washington is rounding back into form. At the time of her injury against Toledo on Nov. 26, the Arkansas State transfer was the team's leader in scoring, assists and steals. In her first two games back - Arizona (12/21) and California Baptist (12/29), she totaled 12 points, six in each outing. On Dec. 21, she returned to the starting lineup and has averaged 11 points, 6.3 rebounds and four assists with three-consecutive games in double-digit points. Against UTRGV on Jan. 4, she produced her second straight and third game overall this year with at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.
ONE OF 12
In the season opener against Texas Southern,
Jireh Washington registered 11 assists, which was just the 12th time a player has notched that many in a game in program history.
DECEMBER TO REMEMBER
Freshman guard
Taleyah Jones, who has now reached double-figure scoring in five of the past eight games, finished as the team's third-leading scorer in the month of December with 11.6 per contest behind
Starr Jacobs (15 PPG) and
Kayla White (13 PPG). On top of that, she was a team-best 7-of-17 (.412) from long distance in the month. She had a 12-point outing against No. 16 Arizona, which followed an explosive performance against Texas A&M - Texarkana where she became the 11th freshman in NCAA Division I play this year to score at least 30 points in a game. Including Florida State's Ta'Niya Latson, who has achieved the feat five times, the following 17 players have combined for 23 such instances this year.
Micah Gray, Texas Southern - 41 vs Arkansas Pine-Bluff
Denim DeShields, UAB - 36 vs FIU
Gabi Fields, Northern Colorado - 36 vs Colorado State
Ta'Niya Latson, Florida State - 34 vs Texas Southern
Mara Braun, Minnesota - 34 vs Lehigh
Ta'Niya Latson, Florida State - 34 vs Kent State
Micah Gray, Texas Southern - 33 vs UCF
Ta'Niya Latson, Florida State - 32 vs Georgia Tech
Jazmyn Stone, College of Charleston - 32 vs Charleston Southern
Ali Saunders, Valparaiso - 32 vs UAB
Ta'Niya Latson, Florida State - 32 vs Florida
Acacia Hayes, Western Kentucky - 31 vs UTSA
Ta'Niya Latson, Florida State - 31 vs Clemson
Raven Preston, Elon - 31 vs Davidson
Mya Hansen, Boise State - 31 vs BYU
Kylie Lavelle, Drexel - 31 vs La Salle
Kenley McCarn, UT Martin - 31 vs Troy
Rosa Smith, Idaho - 30 vs Sacramento State
Sharnecce Currie-Jelks, UT Martin - 30 vs SEMO
Micah Gray, Texas Southern - 30 vs Grambling
Taleyah Jones, UT Arlington - 30 vs Texas A&M - Texarkana
Cotie McMahon, Ohio State - 30 vs South Florida
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor - 30 vs Tennessee State
MILESTONE WATCH
Starr Jacobs
- 152 points shy of 1,000 in her career at UT Arlington
- 7 rebounds shy of 300 in her career at UT Arlington
Shyia Smith
- 13 points shy of 800 in her NCAA career
Jireh Washington
- 16 steals away from 200 in her NCAA career
Kayla White
- 43 points away from 1,300 in her NCAA career
- 20 rebounds shy of 400 in her NCAA career
- 17 made fields goals away from 500 in her NCAA career
AMONG ACTIVE NCAA CAREER LEADERS
Jireh Washington and
Kayla White both rank among the nation's best in multiple career statistical categories. Washington is 115th among all active Division I players in scoring (1,302), 50th in free throws made (323) and 26th in free throw attempts (486). Meanwhile, White is 134th in points (1,257) among active Division I players.
FUN WITH NUMBERS
10+ POINTS IN A GAME
Jireh Washington - 70
Kayla White - 64
Starr Jacobs - 42
De'Sha Benjamin - 36
Shyia Smith - 30
Taleyah Jones - 6
Kamaria Gipson - 5
Nya Threatt - 1
20+ POINTS IN A GAME
Starr Jacobs - 19
Jireh Washington - 15
Kayla White - 12
De'Sha Benjamin - 3
Shyia Smith - 1
Taleyah Jones - 1
30+ POINTS IN A GAME
Starr Jacobs - 2
Kayla White - 1
Jireh Washington - 1
Taleyah Jones - 1
10+ REBOUNDS IN A GAME
Starr Jacobs - 8
Kamaria Gipson - 5
De'Sha Benjamin - 3
Shyia Smith - 3
Jireh Washington - 2
10+ ASSISTS IN A GAME
Jireh Washington - 1
CAREER DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Starr Jacobs - 8
Shyia Smith - 2
Kamaria Gipson - 2
De'Sha Benjamin - 2
Jireh Washington - 1
CATEGORY LEADERS
PPG
Starr Jacobs – 16.2
Kayla White – 13.5
Jireh Washington – 11.9
Shyia Smith – 7.9
Taleyah Jones – 7.8
RPG
Starr Jacobs – 6.8
Shyia Smith – 5.5
Jireh Washington – 4.3
Kamaria Gipson – 3.9
De'Sha Benjamin – 3.6
APG
Jireh Washington – 4.7
Starr Jacobs – 2.1
Kayla White – 1.5
De'Sha Benjamin – 1.3
Nya Threatt – 1.2
SPG
Starr Jacobs – 2.8
Jireh Washington – 2.1
Kayla White – 1.6
Taleyah Jones – 1.1
Alexsyah Goudeau – 0.9
De'Sha Benjamin – 0.9
BPG
Shyia Smith – 0.6
Kamaria Gipson – 0.6
De'Sha Benjamin – 0.4
Starr Jacobs – 0.4
GOUDEAU STEPS UP
Alexsyah Goudeau made the first of six consecutive starts this year on Nov. 29, producing her first of three straight games with a season-high eight points. She also grabbed a season-best six rebounds against Baylor on Dec. 7 and has scored in 15 of 16 games this year, including five with at least five.
SMITH COMES UP CLUTCH
Fifth-year senior
Shyia Smith made the game-winning layup with 16 seconds left in the team's 75-72 win over Texas A&M – Commerce.
GIPSON COMES UP BIG
Kamaria Gipson, a third-year transfer from San Diego State, helped the Lady Mavs produce wins against Texas Southern (11/7) and Texas A&M - Commerce (11/12) behind back-to-back double-digit scoring performances, including her second career double-double on the 12th. She also added a 10-rebound performance against nationally-ranked Baylor (12/7).
AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS
The Lady Mavs rank among the top 70 teams nationally in four categories:
- Free throw attempts per game (7th, 24.00)
- Free throws made per game (23rd, 15.62)
- Steals per game (45th, 10.2)
- Turnovers forced per game (65th, 19.12)
Individually,
Starr Jacobs has ascended to the top 30 nationally in three categories:
- Total steals (20th, 44)
- Total free throw attempts (23rd, 97)
- Steals per game (26th, 2.75)
EXPERIENCED LINEUP
Despite injuries getting in the way at times, UT Arlington has used the below lineup six times this year. It is a group that has combined for 476 games of NCAA Division I experience, and that total becomes 518 games of collegiate experience if you include the 42 games that Jacobs played at the JUCO level.
SHORT TURNAROUND
UT Arlington opened WAC play Dec. 29 with an 8 p.m. CT game at California Baptist. Following a 1:59 a.m. CT flight out, the team arrived back at the CPC around 5 a.m. and began prep later that day for their Dec. 31 game against Tarleton.
HOME SWEET HOME
The UTA women have won five of seven games to open this season inside the College Park Center, where they have called home since Feb. 1, 2012 when they defeated UTSA in their first contest. Since then, the Lady Mavs have compiled a record of 93-57 including five seasons with 10 or more wins. Since the 2016-17 season, the Lady Mavs have been remarkable at home as they have put together an impressive 69-19 record.
| 2022-23 |
5-2 |
| 2021-22 |
8-4 |
| 2020-21 |
8-1 |
| 2019-20 |
12-4 |
| 2018-19 |
12-3 |
| 2017-18 |
13-2 |
| 2016-17 |
11-3 |
| 2015-16 |
7-8 |
| 2014-15 |
10-5 |
| 2013-14 |
3-11 |
| 2012-13 |
3-10 |
| 2011-12 |
1-4 |
| Total |
93-57 |
BACK TO THE WAC
UT Arlington is back in the WAC after previously spending one year as a member of the conference in the 2012-13 season, where they finished 4-14 in league play and tied Texas State for ninth in the regular season standings. UTA spent the past nine seasons (2013-22) as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, where they are the reigning tournament champion. Prior to their initial WAC tenure, the Lady Mavs were a 48-year member of the Southland Conference (1963-2012) – of which it was a founding member.
New Mexico State, UTA and Seattle U are the only three current WAC schools that were also members of the league in 2012-13.
2012-13 WAC Membership (Current Affiliation)
Denver (Summit)
Idaho (Big Sky)
Louisiana Tech (Conference USA)
New Mexico State
San Jose State (Mountain West)
Seattle U
Texas State (Sun Belt)
Utah State (Mountain West)
UT Arlington
UTSA (Conference USA)
2022-23 WAC Membership
Abilene Christian
California Baptist
Grand Canyon
New Mexico State
Sam Houston
Seattle U
Southern Utah
Stephen F. Austin
Tarleton
UT Arlington
UT Rio Grande Valley
Utah Tech
Utah Valley
CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
The UT Arlington women's basketball team wrapped up a tough non-conference slate on Dec. 21 with a loss to No. 16 Arizona. It was the third nationally-ranked team the Lady Mavs have played as UTA fell to No. 16 Oklahoma on Nov. 20 and No. 19 Baylor on Dec. 7.
On top of that, UTA went on the road and nearly upset current No. 23 Kansas, trailing twice by just one late in the fourth quarter, the second time which came on a layup from
Starr Jacobs with 3:36 left before falling 79-74. Then, in the Maggie Dixon Classic against the Sooners, the Lady Mavs took a 74-73 lead with four minutes left in the game on a jumper from
Jireh Washington, but Oklahoma went on a 5-0 run and closed the game on a 16-6 spurt.
On Nov. 26 in Daytona Beach, UT Arlington lost to Toledo, a team that defeated No. 19 Michigan on Dec. 8 and has opened the season 10-3. Last year, the Rockets won the regular season MAC title with a 19-1 record before finishing the season 29-6.
UT ARLINGTON BY THE NUMBERS
Milestone Wins
100th - 65-50 vs Texas Woman's – 11/13/79
200th - 64-51 vs Texas Wesleyan – 2/2/87
300th - 73-55 vs Nicholls State – 2/15/96
400th - 67-63 at Louisiana Monroe – 2/1/03
500th - 54-41 vs TAMUCC – 1/26/08
600th - 65-58 vs App. State – 2/13/16
700th - 60-40 at Arkansas State – 2/26/21
By The Decade
1972-82: 147-135 (.521)
1982-92: 109-165 (.398)
1992-02: 135-141 (.489)
2002-12: 169-132 (.562)
2012-22: 161-131 (.551)
2022-present: 7-9 (.438)
Overall: 728-713 (.505)
OPENING WITH HISTORIC OFFENSE
The 102 points that UT Arlington scored in the season-opening win over Texas Southern 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.
OPENERS
The Lady Mavs are now 25-26 all-time in season openers, as well as 37-14 in home openers. This was the seventh-consecutive season they opened the season at home, and they are 8-1 over the past nine openers.
RESTOCKING THE PANTRY
While UT Arlington returns seven players from last year's roster (six that saw action), the Lady Mavs are replacing six players, highlighted by three key outgoing transfers -
Terryn Milton (Oklahoma State),
Claire Chastain (Oklahoma State) and
Katie Ferrell (Texas Tech).
Milton, Chastain and Ferrell comprised UTA's second, fourth and sixth leading scorers while Ferrell, Milton and Chastain were the second, third and fourth top rebounders, respectively. If that isn't enough, Milton, Ferrell and Chastain - in that order - were the top three assist producers on the team.
In total, UT Arlington is replacing over 40 percent of its contributions in five key categories:
Scoring - 44.5 percent
Rebounding - 60.5 percent
Assists - 75.2 percent
Steals - 52.5 percent
Blocks - 66.7 percent
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