OREM, UTAH --- The UT Arlington women's basketball team (10-13, 4-7 WAC) will look to continue the momentum from Monday's come-from-behind win over first-place Southern Utah as the Lady Mavs hit the road for a pair of conference tilts this week, beginning with a 7 p.m. CT meeting with Utah Valley (5-17, 2-9 WAC) inside the UCCU Center on Thursday. They'll later conclude the trip against Seattle at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
MATCHUP NOTES
- This will be the first all-time meeting between UT Arlington and Utah Valley.
- The Wolverines, who lost leading scorer Jaeden Brown following a Jan. 4 game against New Mexico State, have lost nine of their past 10 games. Their lone victories within WAC play both came in overtime - vs Grand Canyon on Dec. 29 (65-63) and at Tarleton on Feb. 4 (63-59). In fact, they also went to overtime at New Mexico State on Jan. 4 before falling 63-57. In WAC play, six of their games have been decided by single digits.
- In her final three games before departing the lineup, Utah Valley's Jaeden Brown produced a monster stretch that included 20 points, 20 rebounds, six steals, four assists and four blocks in a Dec. 29 win over Grand Canyon, 31 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and a block in a loss at Utah Tech and 23 points, 17 rebounds, five steals and four blocks in a loss to New Mexico State. She was averaging 14.6 points and 9.3 rebounds on the season.
- Since Brown's departure, Utah Valley is 1-7 and led by Kaylee Byon, who is averaging 14.4 points during that stretch. Shay Fano, a preseason All-WAC selection, has averaged 12.5 points and 6.8 rebounds, as well, since Brown's departure.
- Utah Valley began their program in 1978 as a JUCO school and joined the NCAA Division I ranks in 2003. They appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2021, falling in the first round to No. 1 Stanford as a No. 16 seed.
- The Lady Mavs are coming off a 60-58 win over Southern Utah on Monday. The Thunderbirds entered the game 9-0 in WAC play.
- In WAC play, UT Arlington has won three and lost two by single digits.
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.
Jacobs carried that momentum over this year, most recently earning WAC Player of the Week recognition. Earlier, she was 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 21 of 23 games
- Conference-best five double-doubles in WAC play (seven overall)
- Four games with 20-plus points, including a season-best 29 against Toledo
- Leads team in scoring, rebounding and steals per game while ranking second in assists
INDIVIDUALS
- Kayla White is one of just eight players in WAC play to have produced at least three 20-plus point performances. UTRGV's Iyana Dorsey and Southern Utah's Cherita Daugherty each have a conference-best four such outings, while White's trio is joined by California Baptist's Grace Schmidt, Abilene Christian's Addison Martin, Stephen F. Austin's Aiyana Johnson, Southern Utah's Megan Jensen and Utah Valley's Jaeden Brown.
- The Lady Mavs will enter Thursday's game with two of the WAC's top five scorers in conference play as Starr Jacobs leads all players with 18.4 per contest while Kayla White is fifth at 15 PPG following a season-high 22-point performance against Southern Utah.
- In addition to leading the WAC in scoring, Starr Jacobs also leads all players in steals per game at 3.4 per game while ranking third in rebounds per game (8.9), third in offensive rebounds per game (3.6), sixth in field goal percentage (.471), ninth in free throw percentage (.783) and 13th in assists per game (3.2).
- Utah Valley's Shay Fano ranks ninth in the WAC in rebounding at 6.7 per contest.
- Shyia Smith had her 36-game streak of consecutive starts - dating back to Jan. 20, 2022 against Texas State - snapped in the win over Southern Utah. The senior forward, who missed the game due to injury, was the only remaining Lady Mav to start every game this year.
- Jireh Washington has produced at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists in a game three times this year.
- The Lady Mavs tied a program record with 34 points in the fourth quarter at Tarleton on Jan. 14, a quarter-scoring record that has been achieved twice prior since the NCAA switched to the non-half format prior to the 2015-16 season.
- In the same win over Tarleton, Shyia Smith made 10-of-11 from the foul line to tie Taleyah Jones for the team's single-game season-high for made free throws. Jones went 10-of-10 against Texas A&M - Texarkana on Dec. 11.
- De'Sha Benjamin, who had a season-high 17 points in the road win over UTRGV, and Kamaria Gipson, who had a career-high 14 points in the team's road win over Tarleton, achieved both of their highs in the first half alone before going scoreless in the second half of each contest.
- Kamaria Gipson is shooting a career-best .541 (40-of-74) from the field this year, including a .548 (17-of-31) performance in conference play.
- Starr Jacobs has five double-doubles in WAC play alone, which is one ahead of Sam Houston's Madelyn Batista for the conference lead. Those two lead a group of just five players with at least three in WAC play.
- Kayla White has scored in double-digits in 15 of the past 17 games, a stretch that has also included four 20-plus point efforts, including a season-high 22 in Monday's win over Southern Utah.
FIRST 20
The Lady Mavs are 5-1 in games leading at the half this year and 5-12 in games they're trailing after 20 minutes. Most recently, they knocked off first-place Southern Utah on Monday after trailing by six at the half.
1-2 PUNCH
Fifth-year guard
Kayla White, who eclipsed 1,300 career points in the game at Stephen F. Austin, has had a tremendous start to the season after transferring in from Southern Methodist, forming a nice 1-2 punch with
Starr Jacobs. The team's second-leading scorer at 14 per game, she leads the Lady Mavs in 3-point percentage (.328) while ranking second in minutes per game (28.7) and field goals made (107).
HEATING BACK UP
After missing five games due to an injury, fifth-year point guard
Jireh Washington is rounding back into form - although she has missed the past few games due to another injury. At the time of her initial 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 10.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, four assists and 1.3 steals since then with double-digit points in five of seven games played.
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 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
32 points shy of 1,000 in her career at UT Arlington
Shyia Smith
7 steals away from 100 in her NCAA career
3 assists away from 100 in her NCAA career
Jireh Washington
23 made field goals away from 500 in her NCAA career
20 assists away from 400 in her NCAA career
9 steals away from 200 in her NCAA career
Kayla White
39 points away from 1,400 in her NCAA career
8 made 3-point field goals away from 100 in her NCAA career
De'Sha Benjamin
14 points away from 800 in her NCAA career
5 assists away from 100 in her NCAA career
1 made 3-point field goal away from 100 in her NCAA career
AMONG ACTIVE NCAA CAREER LEADERS
Jireh Washington and
Kayla White rank among the nation's best in multiple statistical categories. Washington is 134th among all active Division I players in scoring (1,345) and 35th in free throw attempts (497). Meanwhile, White is 129th in points (1,361).
FUN WITH NUMBERS
CAREER TOTALS
10+ POINTS IN A GAME
Jireh Washington - 72
Kayla White - 70
Starr Jacobs - 49
De'Sha Benjamin - 37
Shyia Smith - 33
Taleyah Jones - 8
Kamaria Gipson - 7
Nya Threatt - 2
Alexsyah Goudeau - 1
20+ POINTS IN A GAME
Starr Jacobs - 20
Jireh Washington - 15
Kayla White - 14
De'Sha Benjamin - 3
Shyia Smith - 2
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 - 11
Kamaria Gipson - 5
De'Sha Benjamin - 3
Shyia Smith - 3
Jireh Washington - 2
10+ ASSISTS IN A GAME
Jireh Washington - 1
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Starr Jacobs - 11
Shyia Smith - 2
Kamaria Gipson - 2
De'Sha Benjamin - 2
Jireh Washington - 1
CATEGORY LEADERS
PPG
Starr Jacobs – 16.5
Kayla White – 14.0
Jireh Washington – 11.6
Shyia Smith – 8.0
Taleyah Jones – 7.5
RPG
Starr Jacobs – 7.3
Shyia Smith – 5.4
Jireh Washington – 4.5
Kamaria Gipson – 3.5
De'Sha Benjamin – 3.5
APG
Jireh Washington – 4.5
Starr Jacobs – 2.6
Nya Threatt – 1.6
Shyia Smith – 1.3
De'Sha Benjamin – 1.3
Kayla White – 1.3
SPG
Starr Jacobs – 3.0
Jireh Washington – 2.0
Kayla White – 1.5
Taleyah Jones – 0.9
Alexsyah Goudeau – 0.9
BPG
Kamaria Gipson – 0.7
Starr Jacobs – 0.5
Shyia Smith – 0.5
De'Sha Benjamin – 0.4
Kayla White – 0.3
GOUDEAU STEPS UP
Alexsyah Goudeau made the first of six consecutive starts on Nov. 29, producing her first of three straight games with eight points. She also grabbed a season-best six rebounds against Baylor on Dec. 7. Most recently, the rookie poured in a season-best 15 points against Utah Tech, and she has made nine starts this year.
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.
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM KG
Kamaria Gipson, a third-year transfer from San Diego State, not only tallied her fourth double-digit effort of the season against Tarleton on Jan. 14, but she poured in a career-best 14 off the bench. That came after a 10-point effort against Grand Canyon, and she shot 12-of-16 from the field over those two outings. She then added six points and a team-high six rebounds in the road win over UTRGV. 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)
- Free throws made per game (21st, 15.43)
- Steals per game (45th, 9.9)
- Turnovers forced per game (56th, 18.78)
Individually,
Starr Jacobs has ascended to the top 75 nationally in six categories.
- Total steals (10th, 69)
- Steals per game (13th, 3.00)
- Total free throw attempts (29th, 134)
- Total free throws made (51st, 93)
- Total field goals made (63rd, 143)
- Total points (74th, 379)
EXPERIENCED LINEUP
Despite injuries getting in the way at times, UT Arlington has used the below lineup 10 times this year. It is a group that has combined for 504 games of NCAA Division I experience, and that total becomes 546 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 that same night, 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 six of 11 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 94-60 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 70-22 record.
| 2022-23 |
6-5 |
| 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 |
94-60 |
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 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 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. 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: 10-13 (.435)
Overall: 731-717 (.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.
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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