STEPHENVILLE, Texas --- The UT Arlington women's basketball team (7-10, 1-4 WAC) will look to snap a three-game losing streak and complete a regular season series sweep over Tarleton (7-9, 1-4 WAC) on Saturday when the Lady Mavs travel to Stephenville for a 2 p.m. matchup inside Wisdom Gymnasium.
STORYLINES
- The Lady Mavs will be looking to complete the regular season sweep of Tarleton after producing a 92-68 victory inside the College Park Center on New Year's Eve. Prior to that meeting, the two programs hadn't met in 31 years, and Saturday will be the first time UT Arlington has played in Stephenville since Jan. 29, 1983. UTA is 11-5 all-time against the Texans in the series dating back to a 52-43 neutral-site win by Tarleton on Feb. 8, 1974 in Waco. A fun fact about the series is that current Abilene Christian head coach Julie (Roewe) Goodenough scored 17 points for UT Arlington in the matchup 31 years ago.
- Offensively, UT Arlington been led by the duo of Starr Jacobs and Kayla White, who are averaging a combined 36 PPG over five conference games. On top of that, Jacobs is one of just three WAC players with multiple double-doubles (2) in conference play. Utah Valley's Jaeden Brown ranks first with three, and SFA's Avery Brittingham has two.
- The Lady Mavs are 1-4 to open conference play and trying to avoid losing at least five of their first six conference games since the 2013-14 team started 0-8.
- On paper, in conference games alone, Saturday's matchup will see one of the league's lowest-rated defenses (UT Arlington) go up against one of the league's lowest-rated offenses (Tarleton).
- UT Arlington defensive rankings in WAC play
- Field goal percentage allowed - 8th
- Rebounding margin - 9th
- Rebounds allowed - 10th
- 3-point field goal percentage allowed - 10th
- Scoring defense - 13th
- Tarleton offensive rankings in WAC play
- Field goal percentage allowed - 8th
- 3-point field goals made - 10th
- 3-point field goal percentage - 11th
- Scoring - 13th
- Field goal percentage - 13th
- Assists - 13th
- Rebounds - 13th
INDIVIDUAL NOTABLES
- Jireh Washington, who has scored in double-digits in each of the past four 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 four games.
- Taleyah Jones, who registered the sixth double-digit scoring performance of her rookie season against Abilene Christian, is averaging 7.2 points in conference play, which makes her the fourth-leading true freshman scorer in the WAC behind Grace Schmidt (CBU, 16.4 PPG), Jordan Harrison (SFA, 16 PPG) and Kyla Deck (SFA, 9 PPG). Seattle's Mya Moore (7 PPG) is fifth.
- Starr Jacobs, who erupted for a 28-point, 13-rebound double-double against Abilene Christian this past Saturday, has opened conference play on a tear as the senior forward is averaging 19.2 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game while shooting .593 from the field and .765 from the foul line over five games. 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 10 of the past 11 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 8th-highest scorer in WAC play at 15.8 points per contest. On Thursday, it took her just six minutes and 48 seconds to reach double-figures.
- Shyia Smith made her 17th straight start to open the campaign against Grand Canyon, and she is the only Lady Mav to start every game. Overall, it was her 31st-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 15 of 17 games
- Three games with 20-plus points, including a season-best 29 against Toledo
- Career-high 14 rebounds against California Baptist
- Four double-doubles
- .523 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 13.8 per game, she leads the Lady Mavs in 3-point percentage (.385) while ranking second in field goals made (77) and third in free throw percentage (.691). She poured in a season-best 21 points against Tarleton, 18 on Thursday against Grand Canyon, a team-best 16 in a key road win over Houston that included several big baskets down the stretch and 20 in a home win over North Texas. Despite missing a pair of games due to illness, she has totaled double-digit points in 10 of the past 11 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. 31, she returned to the starting lineup and has averaged 11.3 points, six rebounds and 3.8 assists with four-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.
MILESTONE WATCH
Starr Jacobs
- 138 points shy of 1,000 in her career at UT Arlington
- One rebound shy of 300 in her career at UT Arlington
Shyia Smith
- Seven points shy of 800 in her NCAA career
Jireh Washington
- 14 steals away from 200 in her NCAA career
Kayla White
- 25 points away from 1,300 in her NCAA career
- 17 rebounds shy of 400 in her NCAA career
- Seven made fields goals away from 500 in her NCAA career
AMONG ACTIVE NCAA CAREER LEADERS
Jireh Washington and
Kayla White rank among the nation's best in several career statistical categories. Washington is 116th among all active Division I players in scoring (1,314), 46th in free throws made (327) and 26th in free throw attempts (490). Meanwhile, White is 133rd in points (1,275) among active Division I players.
FUN WITH NUMBERS
10+ POINTS IN A GAME
Jireh Washington - 71
Kayla White - 65
Starr Jacobs - 43
De'Sha Benjamin - 36
Shyia Smith - 30
Taleyah Jones - 6
Kamaria Gipson - 6
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 – 16.1
Kayla White – 13.8
Jireh Washington – 11.9
Shyia Smith – 7.6
Taleyah Jones – 7.5
RPG
Starr Jacobs – 6.7
Shyia Smith – 5.6
Jireh Washington – 4.3
Kamaria Gipson – 3.8
De'Sha Benjamin – 3.6
APG
Jireh Washington – 4.6
Starr Jacobs – 2.2
Nya Threatt – 1.8
Kayla White – 1.5
De'Sha Benjamin – 1.2
SPG
Starr Jacobs – 2.7
Jireh Washington – 2.1
Kayla White – 1.6
Taleyah Jones – 1.0
Alexsyah Goudeau – 0.9
BPG
Shyia Smith – 0.6
Kamaria Gipson – 0.6
De'Sha Benjamin – 0.5
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 16 of 17 games this year, including six 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, tallied her third double-digit effort of the season against Grand Canyon on Thursday. Earlier this year, she 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 60 teams nationally in four categories:
- Free throw attempts per game (9th, 23.59)
- Free throws made per game (26th, 15.35)
- Steals per game (44th, 10.1)
- Turnovers forced per game (59th, 19.24)
Individually,
Starr Jacobs has ascended to the top 75 nationally in four categories:
- Total steals (19th, 46)
- Steals per game (27th, 2.71)
- Total free throw attempts (28th, 99)
- Total free throws made (55th, 65)
- Total points (73rd, 273)
EXPERIENCED LINEUP
Despite injuries getting in the way at times, UT Arlington has used the below lineup seven times this year. It is a group that has combined for 481 games of NCAA Division I experience, and that total becomes 523 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 eight games to open this season inside the College Park Center, where they have called home since Feb. 1, 2012. Since then, the Lady Mavs have compiled a record of 93-58 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 69-20 record.
| 2022-23 |
5-3 |
| 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 |
93-58 |
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 11-3. 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: 7-10 (.412)
Overall: 728-714 (.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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