LAS VEGAS --- The sixth-seeded UT Arlington women's basketball team (14-16) will square off against 11th-seeded Seattle (5-23) on Monday night at 10 p.m. CT in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) inside the Michelob Ultra Arena.
The winner of the game will advance to the quarterfinals against third-seeded Grand Canyon on Wednesday at 10 p.m. CT.
VEGAS PREP
- The Lady Mavs, who bolted the Sun Belt Conference after winning the tournament championship one year ago, will be looking for the program's fourth all-time conference tournament crown, which includes 2005 and 2007 titles in the Southland Conference.
- UT Arlington will be appearing in the WAC tournament for the second time following a first-round loss to New Mexico State in 2013.
- This will be the fourth all-time meeting between UT Arlington and Seattle in a series that originally dates back to the first WAC tenure for the Lady Mavs in the 2012-13 season. The Lady Mavs defeated Seattle 75-49 on Feb. 11 in the only matchup between the two programs this season behind a season-high 23 points from Kayla White. Prior to that, the Redhawks swept the season series from UTA 10 years ago.
- Despite finishing in a tie with Sam Houston for eighth-place in the WAC regular season standings, UT Arlington earned the tournament's sixth-seed due to the conference's new system for determining seeding in the postseason tournament - the WAC résumé-seeding seeding system.
STARR PRODUCTION
One year after capturing Sun Belt Player of the Year recognition in her first year of Division I play following a JUCO All-American career, UT Arlington senior forward
Starr Jacobs claimed the WAC's highest individual honor on Sunday, becoming the first player in WAC women's basketball history to be named player of the year on a team seeded below No. 4 in the conference tournament. On top of that, she's just the second player since 2001 to win it on a team seeded No. 3 or below.
Jacobs, who was also named to the WAC's All-Defensive Team, averaged 20.4 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.4 steals per game in conference play while leading all players in scoring, rebounding, offensive rebounding and steals while finishing fourth in field goal percentage (.502) and sixth in assists. She had a higher point per game average than any previous player of the year recipient in the WAC since UMKC's Eilise O'Connor registered 22.8 per game in the 2013-14 campaign.
In fact, over the final five games of the regular season, Jacobs averaged an incredible 27.8 points, 15.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists and three steals per game. In that stretch, she produced the following stat lines:
- 35 points and 20 rebounds against Sam Houston on Feb. 16
- 24 points and 21 rebounds against Grand Canyon on Feb. 25
- 34 points, 16 rebounds and a career-high seven assists against Stephen F. Austin on March 2.
In addition to her statistical achievements, Jacobs becomes the first two-time conference player of the year in program history, and she achieved the honor in two separate conferences after claiming it in the Sun Belt last year. She joins Terra Wallace (Southland Conference, 2006) and Cierra Johnson (Sun Belt, 2019) as one of only three players in Lady Mav history to earn a conference's top honor.
Jacobs, who was the only player in the WAC this year to average 20 points and 10 rebounds per game as well as record multiple 20-point, 20-rebound efforts, posted a conference-best 10 double-doubles, which was four more than any other player. She was twice-named the WAC Player of the Week, as well.
Overall, Jacobs is the only player in the country averaging at least 17 points, eight rebounds, three steals and 2.5 assists per game. She is also one of just two players along with Niagara's Aaliyah Parker to average at least 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals per game, and she is one of only three players along with Ny'Ceara Pryor of Sacred Heart and Asiah Dingle of Fordham to average at least 17 points, three steals and 2.5 assists nationally.
NATIONAL PRESENCE
Starr Jacobs ranks among elite company in career scoring average among active players at the Division I level.
- Caitlin Clark (Iowa) - 26.8 PPG
- Maddy Siegrist (Villanova) - 24.0 PPG
- Aneesah Morrow (DePaul) - 23.8 PPG
- Dyaisha Fair (Syracuse) - 22.3 PPG
- Starr Jacobs (UT Arlington) - 19.6 PPG
- Ashley Joens (Iowa State) - 19.2 PPG
- Ayoka Lee (Kansas State) - 19.1 PPG
- Katelyn Young (Murray State) - 18.7 PPG
- Angel Reese (LSU) - 18.4 PPG
- Ioanna Krimili (San Francisco) - 18.1 PPG
If that isn't enough, Jacobs has ascended to the top 70 nationally this year in 11 categories.
- Free throw attempts (7th, 212)
- Total steals (7th, 93)
- Steals per game (11th, 3.10)
- Free throws made (15th, 153)
- Points per game (36th, 18.2)
- Total points (37th, 545)
- Double-doubles (38th, 12)
- Field goals made (42nd, 196)
- Total rebounds (58th, 263)
- Rebounds per game (63rd, 8.8)
- Field goal percentage (66th, .499)
LAST YEAR, BEST YEAR
Kayla White, a graduate senior from DeSoto who spent her first four collegiate seasons at SMU, finished as the WAC's fifth-leading scorer in conference play with 14.9 per contest to earn Second Team All-WAC recognition on Sunday. She registered 23 games in double-figures this season, including five with 20+ in conference play alone, which was tied for the fifth-most among all players. She also produced the following stat lines in conference play:
- Season-high 23 points in a road win over Seattle (2/11)
- 22 points against Southern Utah (2/6)
- 21 points and a season-high 7 rebounds against California Baptist (1/26)
- 21 points against Tarleton (12/31)
Overall, White is just 36 points shy of joining the 1,500 point club in her career, which includes a career-best 396 points this year for the Lady Mavs. Previously, she claimed Third Team All-American Athletic Conference recognition at SMU, where she was also named to the AAC's All-Freshman Team in 2018-19.
SOONER STATE SENSATION
Taleyah Jones, a freshman from Broken Arrow, Okla., averaged 9.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists in conference play this year. Over the final two weeks of February, the guard won back-to-back WAC Freshman of the Week awards after averaging 15.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists while shooting .491 from the field over a five-game stretch.
Earlier this year, Jones was 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.
STATS AND STUFF
- The Lady Mavs are 9-2 in games when leading at the half this year and 5-14 in ones they're trailing after 20 minutes.
- After 28 games in her career with one block, De'Sha Benjamin recorded multiple blocks for the first time in the win over Sam Houston (2/16). One week later against New Mexico State (2/23), she swiped three steals, which is her personal-high in WAC play this year.
- With Starr Jacobs reaching 1,000 career points, the Lady Mavs now have three such players on this year's roster, including Kayla White (1,464) and Jireh Washington (1,429).
- Starr Jacobs now has 1,134 career points - in just 58 career games - which places her in 14th-place on the program's all-time scoring list. Next up on the list is Stacie Terry (1,169, 1994-98).
- Starr Jacobs (20.4 PPG) and Kayla White (14.9 PPG) both finished among the conference's top five scorers in WAC play at No. 1 and No. 5, respectively. On top of that, Jacobs (7) and White (5) also combined for 12 outings with 20-plus points in conference play, ranking second and fifth, respectively, among all players.
- 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 (2/6). The senior forward, who has now missed the past eight games due to injury, was the only remaining Lady Mav to start every game this year.
- Jireh Washington produced at least 10 points, five rebounds and five assists in a game for the fourth time this year in the win over Sam Houston (2/16).
- The Lady Mavs tied a program record with 34 points in the fourth quarter at Tarleton (1/14), 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.
- De'Sha Benjamin, who had a season-high 17 points in the road win over UTRGV (1/19), and Kamaria Gipson, who had a career-high 14 points in the team's road win over Tarleton (1/14), achieved both of their highs in the first half alone before going scoreless in the second half of each contest.
- In WAC play, UT Arlington finished 4-4 in single-digit games.
- 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.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
On Feb. 16, the Lady Mavs defeated Sam Houston 106-102 in double overtime in an instant classic that resulted in several statistical milestones and records.
- Starr Jacobs became the first player in UT Arlington women's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points in just two seasons with her fifth point of the night. She went on to score career-highs in points (35) and rebounds (20), which gave her the fourth-most points, the third most made free throws (13) and the fourth most minutes (49) along with the 13th 20-rebound effort in Lady Mav single-game annals.
- Jireh Washington came within one assist of registering the 10th triple-double in WAC history. Instead, she tied a season-high with 22 points, pulled down a career-best 12 rebounds and dished out nine assists - two shy of matching her career-high. It was her 16th all-time 20-plus point outing, her third career double-digit rebounding effort and the second double-double of her career. On top of that, she finished 10-of-11 from the foul line, narrowly missing becoming the first player in program history to finish at least 11-of-11 from the charity stripe.
- The Lady Mavs established new single-game highs for points (106) and largest combined score (208). They also tied for the second most field goal attempts (84), free throws made (31) and free throws attempted (41) while matching the fourth-best total for field goals made (37).
AMONG ACTIVE NCAA CAREER LEADERS
Jireh Washington,
Kayla White and
Starr Jacobs rank among the nation's best in multiple statistical categories.
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM KG
Kamaria Gipson, a third-year transfer from San Diego State, registered the second double-double of her UT Arlington career (third overall) at Utah Valley (2/9). It was also her fifth double-digit scoring effort of the season, including her career high 14 established against Tarleton (1/14). 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 first double-double as a Lady Mav on the 12th. She also mixed in a 10-rebound performance against nationally-ranked Baylor (12/7). Overall, she has a career-best 24 blocks this year.
AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS
The Lady Mavs rank among the top 60 teams nationally in five categories:
- Free throw attempts per game (4th, 24.07)
- Free throws made per game (4th, 16.67)
- Steals per game (30th, 9.8)
- Scoring offense (52nd, 72.6)
- Turnovers forced per game (53rd, 18.4)
HISTORIC OFFENSE
UT Arlington has produced two of the program's nine all-time games with at least 100 points this season, highlighted by a record 106 points in the double overtime win over Sam Houston on Feb. 16. Along with the 102-point outing against Texas Southern on Nov. 7, which was the most points the Lady Mavs have ever scored in a season opener, this year's team has produced the two-highest scoring games in the program's past 25 seasons.
EXPERIENCED LINEUP
Despite injuries getting in the way, UT Arlington has used the below lineup 10 times this year. It is a group that has combined for 533 games of NCAA Division I experience, and that total becomes 571 games of collegiate experience if you include the 42 games that Jacobs played at the JUCO level.
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.
RESTOCKING THE PANTRY
While UT Arlington returns seven players from last year's roster (six that saw action), the Lady Mavs have had to replace 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
FUN WITH NUMBERS
CAREER TOTALS
10+ POINTS IN A GAME
Jireh Washington - 77
Kayla White - 76
Starr Jacobs - 56
De'Sha Benjamin - 39
Shyia Smith - 33
Taleyah Jones - 13
Kamaria Gipson - 8
Nya Threatt - 2
Alexsyah Goudeau - 1
20+ POINTS IN A GAME
Starr Jacobs - 25
Kayla White - 16
Jireh Washington - 16
De'Sha Benjamin - 4
Shyia Smith - 2
Taleyah Jones - 2
30+ POINTS IN A GAME
Starr Jacobs - 4
Kayla White - 1
Jireh Washington - 1
Taleyah Jones - 1
10+ REBOUNDS IN A GAME
Starr Jacobs - 16
Kamaria Gipson - 6
De'Sha Benjamin - 4
Shyia Smith - 3
Jireh Washington - 3
20+ REBOUNDS IN A GAME
Starr Jacobs - 2
10+ ASSISTS IN A GAME
Jireh Washington - 1
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Starr Jacobs - 16
Kamaria Gipson - 3
Shyia Smith - 2
De'Sha Benjamin - 2
Jireh Washington - 2
CATEGORY LEADERS
PPG
Starr Jacobs – 18.2
Kayla White – 14.1
Jireh Washington – 12.3
Taleyah Jones – 8.8
Shyia Smith – 8.0
RPG
Starr Jacobs – 8.8
Shyia Smith – 5.4
Jireh Washington – 4.5
De'Sha Benjamin – 3.9
Kamaria Gipson – 3.7
APG
Jireh Washington – 4.7
Starr Jacobs – 3.0
Nya Threatt – 1.6
Kayla White – 1.4
Shyia Smith – 1.3
SPG
Starr Jacobs – 3.1
Jireh Washington – 1.7
Kayla White – 1.4
BPG
Kamaria Gipson – 0.8
Shyia Smith – 0.5
Starr Jacobs – 0.5
De'Sha Benjamin – 0.4
Kayla White – 0.3
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: 14-16 (.467)
Overall: 735-720 (.505)
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