PHOENIX, Ariz. – The UT Arlington women's basketball team (9-9, 5-3 WAC) are back on the road for their lone game of the week as they are set to take on WAC leader Grand Canyon (16-4, 8-1 WAC) at 3 p.m. central time from inside the GCU Arena.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 4th overall meeting between the two programs, with their first ever meeting coming last season. The Lady Mavs hold a 1-2 record versus the Lopes, with the lone win coming in their second matchup from a season ago.
'NET' SO FAST
With the non-conference slate over, the Lady Mavs hold the best Net-Non-Conference Strength of Schedule in the WAC. UTA is the only WAC team to crack the top-100, coming in at 80. UTA also holds the fourth highest NET ranking in the WAC, only behind Grand Canyon, California Baptist, and Stephen F. Austin.
THE MACHINE
Avery Brittingham has done a little bit of everything this season for the Lady Mavs. The senior out of Fort Worth was named one of the five U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Ann Meyers Drysdale National Player of the Week once so far this season, this came for her performance three weeks ago. She posted her first triple-double of the season, first in a Lady Mavs uniform and second career triple-double. She is 6th in the NCAA and 2nd in the WAC. Her triple-double came against her former team, SFA. She has also posted a double-double in six contests so far this season.
GOOD AS ADVERTISED
Sharpshooter
Taliyah Clark leads the team with 13.2 points per game and is third on the squad with 4.2 rebounds per game. Clark averages 1.83 three pointers made per contest, which is the 5th best mark in the WAC. During the previous nine games, she is averaging 15.3 points per contest along with 5.1 rebounds per game.
Gia Adams is the second leading scorer on the Lady Mavs averaging 12.7 points per game while also averaging 31 minutes played per game which is tops on the team. In the previous nine games, she has posted double digits in six of those contests, dropping 21 in the loss to UTRGV, the most points she's put up in a Lady Mavs uniform. Adams is five points away from 1000 for her career.
CZECH MATE
5th year transfer Adela Valkova has found her groove these past nine games, posting double digits in all but one contest while averaging 13.8 points per game to go along with 6.3 rebounds per contest. Valkova is shooting 60.2-percent from the floor during the last nine while averaging 28.6 minutes of play. At Jacksonville State, she posted a career high 21 points to help lead the Lady Mavs to victory. Matched her career high of 8 rebounds three times, last coming at UTRGV while setting a new career high of 5 blocks at Utah Valley. Has posted at least one block in all but two of the past nine games.
CRASH THE BOARDS
The Lady Mavs average 35.44 rebounds per game, which is the 7th best mark in the WAC.They average 26.0 defensive rebounds per contest, which is the 3rd best mark in the conference.
Brittingham leads the conference with 150 total rebounds on the season, which has her 89th in the NCAA. Her 8.3 rebounds per game have her 2nd in the WAC and 86th overall in the country.
FREEBIES
The Lady Mavs are one of the best teams in the country when it comes to getting to the free throw line, averaging 19.83 free throw attempts per game. This is the 50th best mark in the country and 2nd best in the WAC, behind Cal Baptist's 20.59 per game.
The 14.11 free throws made per game has the Lady Mavs 3rd in the WAC and 59th in the NCAA while their 71.1-percent from the charity stripe is the 3rd best mark in the conference.
DROPPIN DIMES
The Lady Mavs are one of the best teams in the WAC when it comes to dishing out the rock. They average 14.8 assists per game which is the 5th best mark in the WAC and the 92nd best mark in the NCAA.
Adams in 4th in the WAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.63) and has 57 assists on the season. Brittingham is 2nd in the conference averaging 4.0 assists per game and is 2nd in the WAC in total assists with 72 on the year.
Nya Threatt is third on the Lady Mavs with 47 assists for the season, averaging 2.61 assists a game.
BLOCK PARTY
The Lady Mavs average 3.8 blocks per game, which is tops in the WAC and 87th overall in the NCAA. Valkova leads the charge with 29 blocks on the season, which is 1st in the conference and 65th in the NCAA. She averages 1.61 blocks per game which is 1st in the WAC and 69th overall in the country. Meanwhile Brittingham has 18 blocks on the season, averaging 1 block per contest which is 5th in the WAC.
THE PRICE IS WRIGHT
Head coach
Shereka Wright just overtook Cindy Salser (1976-79) for the sixth most wins in school history with 52 after a win against Tarleton State on Jan. 4. After the victory over Abilene Christian, Wright now has 56 wins and trails Krista Gerlich (121), Donna Capps (119), Connie Kelch (117), Mike Dean (115) and Samantha Morrow (74). Wright's .577 winning percentage is the best winning percentage in program history.
SCOUTING GRAND CANYON
The Lopes just had their 8-game winning streak come to a halt, when Stephen F. Austin came into GCU Arena and walked away with a 59-54 victory. GCU has one of the better benches in the country, averaging 24.1 points per game off the bench which is the 47th best mark in the NCAA and 2nd in the WAC. Trinity San Antonio has 38 steals on the year, the 5th most in the WAC while her 2.38 steals per game has her ranked 53rd in the NCAA and 3rd in the conference. Naudia Evans' 42.3-percent from deep is the 33rd best mark in the nation and 1st in the conference.
NEXT UP
The Lady Mavs return home for a three-game homestand, kicking it off hosting Southern Utah on Thursday, Feb. 1. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. from inside the College Park Center.
– #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).
