ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington women's basketball team (3-8, 0-2 WAC) return home after a three-game road swing to take on New Mexico State State (6-6, 0-0 CUSA) in their final non-conference match-up and last contest of 2023 from inside the friendly confines of the College Park Center.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the ninth overall meeting between the two programs dating back to 1981, with UTA leading the series 5-3. The Lady Mavs won the first five games in the series and are currently in a three game skid to the Aggies. The two are former Western Athletic Conference foes. This will be the second meeting between the two inside the friendly confines of the College Park Center.
SCOUTING NEW MEXICO STATE
The Aggies enter with a 6-6 overall record and are currently in a two-game skid. Molly Kaiser leads the Aggies in scoring with 14.6 points per game. Ene Adams leads the team with 5.5 rebounds per contest and Sylena Peterson leads the squad in assists with 2.7 a contest.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING
The Lady Mavs are currently riding a two-game win streak and are looking to make it three in a row.
HOME SWEET HOME
Sporting a 96-65 overall record at the College Park Center, the Lady Mavs seem to be at their best when playing in front of the home crowd at the CPC.
GOOD AS ADVERTISED
Avery Brittingham is living up to expectations as through 11 games this season, Brittingham has posted a double-double in five of those contests. This has her ranked 28th in the country and sits alone at the top of the WAC leaderboards. She also leads the Lady Mavs with 12.7 points per game.
Brittingham has also been a menace on the boards in the infant stages of the season, averaging 9 rebounds per contest to lead the Lady Mavs which also has her ranked 49th in the NCAA and 1st in the WAC. In those 11 games, Brittingham has pulled down 99 rebounds, 1st in the conference and 70th in the country. She seems to be at her best on the defensive end where she averages 7.5 boards per game on defense, which is 1st in the WAC and 14th in the NCAA.
Gia Adams also was expected to play a huge role when she transferred to UTA from Tennessee State. The 2021-22 Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year is the second leading scorer on the Lady Mavs averaging 12.5 points per game while also averaging 32 minutes played per game which is tops on the team. Adams leads the Lady Mavs with 35 assists and is also second on the team with 17 steals through 11 games.
Sharpshooter transfer from Seattle U,
Taliyah Clark is third on the team with 11.8 points per game and has hit 17 three-pointers on the season.
CAREER HIGHS'
In the last five games, five Lady Mavs have posted career bests' with Adela Valkova scoring 21 points and securing 7 rebounds last time out at Jacksonville State. Clark put up 28 points at Sam Houston.
Keiori Lee dropped 18 points at 8th-ranked Colorado.
Nya Threatt scored 17 points against Grand Canyon and
Hannah Humphrey posted 20 points at Abilene Christian.
MILESTONES ON THE HORIZON
Adams is 96 points away from the 1000-point mark for her career. The junior also is 17 assists away from 200 and 45 rebounds away from the 200 plateau for her career.
Brittingham is one rebound shy from 100 rebounds in her UTA career and 78 away from 700 for her career.
Clark is 16 three-pointers away from 100 made for her career.
FROM THE CHARITY STRIPE
The Lady Mavs are one of the best teams in the country when it comes to getting to the free throw line, averaging 19.73 free throw attempts per game. This is the 69th best mark in the country and 2nd best in the WAC behind California Baptist (23.45 - 18th in NCAA).
The 14.27 free throws made per game has the Lady Mavs 4th in the WAC and 59th in the NCAA while their 72.4-percent from the charity stripe is 3rd best in the conference.
MAKING IT RAIN
The Lady Mavs 31.5 percentage from beyond the arc is the 3rd best three-point percentage in the WAC while their 5.6 three pointers per game is the 6th best mark in the conference.
The tandem of Clark and Humphrey lead the charge for the Lady Mavs, with Clark drilling 17 three-pointers and Humphrey hitting 13 so far this season to pace UTA.
SHARING THE LOVE
Averaging 14.1 assists per game as a team is 5th best in the WAC with five Lady Mavs in double figures in assists on the season led by Brittingham (32), Adams (35), Threatt (29), Clark (23) and Valkova (10).
FAR FROM RESERVES
The Lady Mavs sport one of the better benches in the WAC, averaging 18.6 points per game, this has UTA 6th in the conference. Humphrey leads the charge averaging 6.7 points per game.
NEXT UP
The Lady Mavs will start back up conference play when they welcome Tarleton to the CPC on January 4 with tip-off slated for 6 p.m.
– #BuckEm –
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).
