RUSTON, La. – The UT Arlington Lady Mavs basketball team hit the road for the first of a five-game road trip, travelling to Ruston to take on the Lady Techsters of Louisiana Tech on Sunday, Nov. 10, scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. CT tipoff inside the Thomas Assembly Center.
 
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 13th overall meeting between the Lady Mavs and the Lady Techsters and first time since Feb. 2013. The Lady Mavs have yet to beat the Lady Techsters, having an 0-12 record and an 0-7 record in Ruston, La. The first ever matchup dates back to 1977, with the majority of games happening in the 90s, eight of them to be exact, one in the 2000s and twice in the 2010s when they both were members of the Western Athletic Conference, UTA's first stint in the conference. This is the first game of the second ever WAC/CUSA Challenge.
 
SCOUTING LOUISIANA TECH
The Lady Techsters are coming off a 14-19 season in 2023-24 with a 7-9 CUSA record and a semifinals appearance in the conference tournament. Louisiana Tech carries a 2-0 record after defeating Nicholls and South Alabama. The Lady Techsters are undefeated at home in the early portion of the season and hold an average of 66.5 points in their two games while shooting .415 from the floor, .313 from beyond the arc and .623 from the free throw line. They average 41 rebounds per game and eight assists per contest while turning over the ball 19.5 times per game.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The UT Arlington women's basketball team defeated Arlington Baptist 105-35 inside the College Park Center on homecoming night for the Lady Mavs.
 
With the victory, the Lady Mavs picked up their first win of the 2024-25 campaign.
 
As a team, UTA turned up the defensive intensity, finishing with 20 total steals. This is just the fourth time in program history that the Lady Mavs finished 20 plus steals and the first time since 2003.
 
The Lady Mavs forced Arlington Baptist into 33 turnovers and capitalized off those turnovers, turning it into 45 points.
 
UTA managed to score 20 plus points in every quarter, saving their best for last and putting up 33 points in the fourth. The Lady Mavs never trailed during the game.
 
For the game, UTA shot an impressive 53.9 percent from the floor and 71.4 percent from the charity stripe.
 
The Lady Mavs as a team finished with 70 points in the paint, 22 second chance points, 46 fast break points and 43 bench points.
 
The Lady Mavs finished just two points shy of scoring the program record of most points in a game.
 
TRIPLE DOUBLE IN THE HOME OPENER
Avery Brittingham made history for the second year in a row. Brittingham finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the third triple double in program history. This is her third career triple double, second as a Lady Mav that came last season against her former team Stephen F. Austin.
 
KICKIN' IT WITH KOI
Fifth year transfer Koi Love is averaging 20.5 points in two games for the Lady Mavs. 
 
In just her second game in the orange and blue, Love finished with a game high 21 points to go along with one rebound, one assist and one steal in 16 minutes. Love's impressive 10-for-11 night from the floor moved her into the record books as well, putting her in a tie for 9th place with a 90.9 field goal percentage, first time since 2020 that's been done.
 
Love recorded 20 points in her Lady Mavs debut, that's the most in a debut for the Lady Mavs in over 10 years.
 
In her first game donning the blue and orange, Love swiped a career high five steals and tied her career high with two made three pointers in 33 minutes of action.
 
GAME OF FIRSTS
Freshman Kendal Robinson along with redshirt-freshmen Aubrey Reid and Jamaya Perry all scored their first collegiate basket in the home opener for the Lady Mavs.
 
WANNA BE A BALLER, SHOT CALLER
It's no secret that fifth year forward Avery Brittingham is the heartbeat of the Lady Mavs, they go as she goes and boy can she go. I mean, after all she only posted the Lady Mavs second ever triple double in program history. She is also the lone two-time All-WAC performer, earning a First Team nod in 2022-23 and a Second Team nod last season.
 
After a career year in her first season with the Lady Mavs in which she averaged career bests in points (13.1), rebounds (8.4), assists (3.9) and blocks (1.3) per game, eclipsing the career 1000 point plateau and helping propel the Lady Mavs to their best ever finish in the WAC with an 11-9 conference record and a first ever trip to the WAC Tournament semifinals all while leading the WAC in double doubles with 12, Brittingham enters her final season of collegiate basketball as the leader the Lady Rams basketball team. 
 
Brittingham enters the 2024-25 season 58 made shots away from 500 career field goals, one rebound shy of 800, 12 assists away from 300, 23 steals away from 200 and 14 blocks away from 100. If she corrals 201 more rebounds, she will have gathered 1000 rebounds for her career and will mark her third season in a row she's collected 200 or more rebounds. 
 
In four seasons, Brittingham has started in 80 games with two seasons in a row where she has started in every game on the year, a model of consistency. 
 
NEW NUMBER, CALL ME MAYBE
In her first season donning the blue and orange in 2023-24, Brittingham wore No. 12. Fast forward to the 2024-25 crusade and cut that number in half, AB will be suiting up as No. 6. No matter the number, you know who to call when in need ... call AB!
 
SHARING IS CARING, IT CAN BE FUN
Two of the top three assist leaders return for the Lady Mavs in Nya Threatt and Avery Brittingham. Threatt dished out 101 total assists, third on the squad, while Brittingham served up a team high 129 total assists on the year. 
 
During the 2023-24 run, the Lady Mavs had three players throw out 100 plus assists on the year. The previous season, the Lady Mavs had just one player eclipse 100 plus assists on the year in Jireh Washington who finished with 109 total assists.
 
CAN THE BLOCK PARTY CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT?
Last season, the Lady Mavs led the Western Athletic Conference in blocks per game with 4.1 as a team. Southern Utah was closest to UTA with 3.8 blocks per game.
 
South Carolina led the nation with 7.8 blocks per game, UTA's 4.1 blocks per game was ranked 53rd nationally, a full 30 spots higher than Southern Utah's 83rd national ranking.
 
UTA had two of the top three shot blockers in the WAC on the same squad in Avery Brittingham and Adela Valkova. Valkova led the WAC in total blocks with 49, 62nd best in the NCAA, and in blocks per game with 1.48, 75th best in the nation. Brittingham was second in the WAC in total blocks with 43, 93rd best nationally, and third in the conference in blocks per game with 1.30, 103rd best in the NCAA.
 
PREPARE FOR TROUBLE AND MAKE IT DOUBLE ... IT'S TEAM ROCKET
The Lady Mavs have composed one of the best three-point shooting combos in the Western Athletic Conference in senior guards Taliyah Clark and Aspen Thornton.
 
Clark returns as one of the top three-point shooters from the previous year, hitting a team high 60 triples and shooting .347 from deep on the year. Her 1.82 three pointers per game was the fifth best mark in the conference.
 
Coming into the year, Clark has hit 127 career three pointers and shoots .326 for a career from deep. She made a career high seven three balls at Utah Valley back on January 26, 2023 as a member of Seattle U.
 
Intraconference transfer Aspen Thornton comes to the Lady Mavs after spending the past two seasons at WAC foe Abilene Christian. In two seasons as a Wildcat, Thornton shot .332 from beyond the arc, hitting 65 total triples in the process. 
 
At Division II Ouachita Baptist, Thornton shot an astounding .381 from deep and a whopping .425 from the field while leading all of Division II in points per game with 23. Her career high in three pointers made is six at Southwestern Oklahoma as a member of Ouchita Baptist. Thornton's Division I career high in made triples is five, which ironically enough happened as a member of ACU and came against the Lady Mavs.
 
Thornton is a career .351 shooter from deep while hitting 113 total three pointers across Division I & II.
 
WHERE STARS SHINE THE BRIGHTEST ... ON THE BIG STAGE
Starters Nya Threatt and Avery Brittingham went on a tear in the 2024 Western Athletic Conference Tournament. The tandem had career games that helped propel the Lady Mavs to their first WAC semifinals berth in program history as well as the program's first victory over Utah Tech.
 
In three games, Brittingham registered three double digit scoring performances including two 20-point outings that included a career high 27 points against Utah Tech. She also posted two double doubles during the tournament which included a season high 15 rebounds against Utah Tech. Also tied her career high with five steals against Southern Utah to open the tournament. Brittingham was named to the All-Tournament team after her stellar tournament run.
 
Threatt dished out a career high nine assists against Utah Tech while making a career high six field goals for 12 points. The 37 minutes she played against Utah Tech was a career high also. In three games, Threatt registered two double digit scoring efforts.
 
RETURN OF THE LADY MAVS
Redshirt freshmen Jamaya Perry and Aubrey Reid both look to return to action for the Lady Mavs in the upcoming campaign. Perry went down with an injury at Colorado last season after appearing in three games in the young season. Reid was sidelined before the start of the 2023-24 season. 
 
Both look towards a successful season and to provide valuable minutes off the bench for the Lady Mavs and show why Coach Wright recruited them.
 
Reid is a 2023 graduate of Austin High School in Austin, Texas where she was the No. 30 ranked player in Texas. She averaged 13 points, five rebounds and four assists as a junior, being named First Team All-District 26-6A and Academic All-District.
 
Perry is a 2023 graduate of Saint Mary's High School in Stockton, California where she was #16 on the Prep Girls Hoops 2023 Top 100 list and #22 on the NorCal Preps Northern California 2023 Top 40 list.
 
READY TO MAKE A SPLASH
Junior guard Kali Haizlip and sophomore forward Miraya Perkins look to build off their first seasons in Arlington.
 
Haizlip ended her first season for the Lady Mavs, finishing with 97 points, 45 rebounds, 14 assists, 13 steals and two blocks in 298 total minutes spread across 30 games. 
 
She averaged 3.2 points and 1.5 rebounds while shooting 35-for-96 (.365) from the field, 10-for-30 from long distance and 17-of-26 from the foul line. Averaged just under 10 minutes of action per game as a reserve. Posted a Division I career-high in points with 11 against Southern Utah on 4-for-6 from the floor, 1-for-2 from deep and connecting on both free throw attempts. Pulled down a career-high seven rebounds against Tarleton State.
 
Perkins enters her sophomore season with the Lady Mavs after appearing in 28 games as a true freshman for UTA the previous season. Earned valuable minutes off the bench during her first season in the blue and orange, totaling 227 minutes over the course of the season.
 
She averaged 1.8 points and 1.3 rebounds where she averaged 8.1 minutes played per appearance. Shot 15-of-39 (.385) from the field and 19-of-24 (.792) from the charity stripe. Registered career high eight points vs SFA, also played a career high 20 minutes as well as making a career high three field goals. Grabbed a career high five rebounds against Southern Utah. Made a career high five free throws at Utah Valley. Picked up her first career block against UTRGV. Scored first collegiate bucket at #11 Texas.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The Lady Mavs hit the transfer portal this past offseason and is bringing in a foursome of talented and experienced players to pair with eight returners and one true freshman for the 2024-25 campaign. 
 
Koi Love, a 6-0 forward from the University of Southern California (USC), Zoe Nelson, a 6-2 forward from Stephen F. Austin, Aspen Thornton, a 5-7 guard from Abilene Christian, Laura Bello, a 6-3 forward from Idaho State and Kendal Robinson, a 5-10 guard out of North Crowley High School make up the quintet of newcomers for the Lady Mavs.
 
Love spent her first two collegiate seasons at Vandy where she made an immediate impact, earning All-SEC Freshman team honors her first season in Nashville after leading the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game. In her career debut, she registered a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Jacksonville State. She was the first player in school history to win back-to-back SEC Freshman of the Week honors.
 
Appearing in 29 of the Commodore's 30 games, making 13 starts, Love finished with 396 points, 181 rebounds, 56 assists, 32 steals and 18 blocks in her freshman campaign, which led all Vanderbilt freshmen in points, rebounds, blocks, steals and assists. In the SEC tournament against Auburn, Love scored a then career-high 26 points and dished out seven assists.
 
Heading into her sophomore season at Vanderbilt, Love started in all eight of the Commodores games before the season was cut short due to the covid pandemic. She was averaging 20.8 points per game which was the 25th-best average in the nation when Vanderbilt's season was discontinued in January. Dropped her career-high 32 points in the Commodore's last game of the season at No. 12 Kentucky.
 
Love transferred to Arizona for the 2021-2022 season where she appeared in 28 games, making two starts, and averaged 14.3 minutes per game. Her best performance in a Wildcat uniform came in a win over Oregon State when she dropped 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. Love grabbed a season-best 9 rebounds in wins over Marist and Oregon while she led the Wildcats in steals in six different games, including three games of four steals
 
Love spent the 2022-2023 season at USC where she played in 17 games, averaging 13.6 minutes per game. She averaged 2.8 points per game and 3.1 rebounds per game while finishing the season with 23 steals, 13 assists and 3 blocks for the Trojans.
 
During Love's prep career, she was ranked the 40th-best recruit nationally by ProspectsNation and the 89th-best recruit nationally by ESPNHoopGurlz. Love was also one of 50 high schoolers named to the prestigious 2019 Naismith High School Girls' Watch List. She was a three-time FABC First Team selection and three-time 4A All-State selection after averaging at least 15 points and 11 boards in her three seasons on varsity.
 
Nelson spent the past three seasons in a Lumberjacks uniform where she averaged 4.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in those three years. Nelson appeared in 71 games, making 26 starts, and shooting an impressive .419 from the field and averaging 14.9 minutes per contest during her time in Nacogdoches. 
 
This previous season was a career year for Nelson, where she started 25 of the Lumberjacks' 34 games and appeared in 26 of those contests. She averaged a career-high 7.8 points and 7.3 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game. Nelson put up 204 total points on the year after shooting .394 from the floor. Her 190 total rebounds and 27 blocks for the season were both second on the team.
 
Her sophomore campaign she appeared in 26 games and averaged 12.5 minutes per game while also averaging 4.0 rebounds and 3.9 points per contest. Nelson posted a double-double with a season-high 15 points and 15 rebounds to go along with two steals in 26 minutes against UT Rio Grande Valley.
 
During the 2021-222 season, Nelson's freshman campaign, she appeared in 19 games and made one start. She averaged 5.1 minutes, 2.0 rebounds and 2.2 points per game and registered a season high 10 points against Arlington Baptist. Facing Our Lady of the Lake University, Nelson pulled down 10 rebounds and recorded five blocks in a game against Sam Houston.
 
A native of Austin, Texas, Nelson attended Hendrickson High School where she was helped guide the Hawks to a 124-24 record during her four years and was named the Central Texas Player of the Year by the Austin-American Statesman for her senior season. She was also a three-time UIL All-Region honoree as well as a member of the UIL All-State Team and was named the District MVP. Nelson averaged 17.2 points and 10 rebounds coming out of high school and had a triple-double under her belt.
 
Thornton joins the Lady Mavs after spending the previous two seasons with the Wildcats where she averaged 12.1 points per game, 2.6 rebounds per game and 2.5 assists per game while shooting .410 from the field, .326 from beyond the arc and .764 from the free throw line. In her two seasons at ACU, she appeared in 43 games, making an even 40 starts.
 
This past season, Thornton registered 203 total points for an average of 11.9 points per game. She shot .384 from the floor while shooting .304 from deep in 17 games. In those 17 games, she averaged 30.9 minutes per game which was second on the team. She shot an impressive .779 percent from the free throw line for the season. 
 
In her first season in Abilene, Thornton appeared in 26 games while making 23 starts and shot an astounding .426 percent from the field while shooting .339 from deep and .750 from the charity stripe. She corralled 68 rebounds on the season while dishing out 76 assists and finishing with 46 steals. For her efforts, she was named to the 2022-23 All-WAC Newcomer Team.
 
Thornton transferred to Abilene Christian from Division II Ouachita Baptist, where she spent her freshman season. She led all of NCAA Division II in scoring with 23.4 points per game and set the single-game scoring record for the Tigers with a 43-point performance against Arkansas Tech. Thornton was named the Great American Conference Freshman of the Year, First Team All-GAC and All-Region Second Team.
 
Hailing from Hot Springs, Arkansas, Thornton attended Lake Hamilton High School where she was a three-time conference champion and helped the team qualify for three state tournaments. Her high school accolades include being named Class 5A All-State three times, named 5A South All-Conference three times, was twice named the 5A South Conference Player of the Year, named Sentinel Record Garland County Player of the Year and named Sentinel Record All-Garland County three times.
 
Bello spent the past two seasons at Idaho State, joins the UT Arlington women's basketball program for the 2024-25 campaign.
 
During her two seasons for the Bengals, Bello appeared in 46 games, making 44 starts and averaged 9.7 points per contest while averaging 7.7 rebounds and 26.9 minutes per game. 
 
This past season for the Bengals, Bello appeared in 26 games, making 26 starts, and averaged 8.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game while averaging 26 minutes per contest. Her 250 total points were second on the team while her average of 8.3 per game ranked third on the squad. She gathered 192 rebounds for the season, which was the second-best mark on the team. Bello's 31 blocks led the Bengals, while her 1.03 blocks per game ranked fourth in the Big Sky Conference. She posted a season-high 17 points against Utah Valley back in December 2023.
 
Bello's first season at Idaho State, she made an immediate impact for the Bengals, appearing in 30 games and making 21 starts. Bello averaged 11.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, just shy of the season double-double average, and shot an impressive .419 from the floor. She led the Big Sky Conference in rebounds for the season and was ranked 51st in the NCAA in boards and 34th in rebounds per game. For her efforts, Bello was named to the All-Big Sky Honorable Mention team.
 
Before she arrived at Idaho State, Bello played her freshman season at Division II Newman University. For the Jets, Bello appeared in 27 games, making one start while shooting an astounding .469 from the floor to average 7.6 points per game. She finished the season with 129 total rebounds to go along with nine steals and nine blocks. Bello is a 2021 graduate of Allen High School.
 
The lone true freshman on the squad, Robinson was the #27 overall recruit in the state of Texas. A three-time letterwinner for the North Crowley Panthers, Robinson is a major threat on both ends of the court as she averaged 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals per contest which garnered her UIL Region 1 6A All-Regional Team honors her junior year.
 
HEY, I KNOW YOU
With eight returners, this is a stark contrast from a season ago when the Lady Mavs brought in 12 newcomers while returning only three from the 2022-23 season. Not only do the eight have a year under their belt playing with each other, the tandem of Nya Threatt and Alexsyah Goudeau are entering their third season playing together and are the most senior members of the program.
 
Newcomers Zoe Nelson and Kendal Robinson have familiarity with Avery Brittingham. Brittingham was a teammate of Nelson's at Stephen F. Austin for two seasons, the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons, and are best friends off the court. Robinson's mother, Courtney Dixon, coached Brittingham in AAU so the pair have known each other for years.
 
Transfer Koi Love is reuniting with Coach Wright for Love's final season of collegiate basketball. Coach Wright and Love have a history together dating back to 2018 when Wright was the recruiting coordinator and associate head coach at Vanderbilt, and she recruited Love to the Commodores.
 
IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR
Basketball is a family affair for several people, and that's no different for some Lady Mavs. Fifth year Avery Brittingham is following in the footsteps of her brother, Hayden Brittingham, who spent the 2021-22 season as part of the UT Arlington men's basketball team. Sophomore Miraya Perkins is the daughter of former North Carolina Tar Heel, Olympian and 17-year NBA veteran, Sam Perkins.
 
THE PRICE IS WRIGHT
Head coach Shereka Wright overtook Cindy Salser (1976-79) for the sixth most wins in school history with 52 last season after a win against Tarleton State on Jan. 4, 2024. After the victory over Arlington Baptist in the 2024-25 season home opener, Wright now has 65 wins and trails Krista Gerlich (121), Donna Capps (119), Connie Kelch (117), Mike Dean (115) and Samantha Morrow (74). Wright's .570 winning percentage is the third best in program history.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Lady Mavs claimed their 100th victory inside the friendly confines of the College Park Center with a win over Abilene Christian back on Jan. 20, 2024. After a victory over Southern Utah, the Lady Mavs now sport a 103-67 overall record at the CPC. UTA seems to be at their best when playing in front of the home crowd.
 
TEXAS TAKEOVER
The Lady Mavs have six players from the great state of Texas. The DFW is well represented with three (Brittingham, Perkins & Robinson) of those players hailing from North Texas while two hail from the greater Central Texas area, Austin to be exact (Nelson & Reid). Threatt is from the Houston area. Head coach Shereka Wright played her high school ball in Copperas Cove, Texas.
 
UT ARLINGTON BY THE NUMBERS
Milestone Wins
100th win - 65-50 vs Texas Woman's on Nov. 13, 1979
200th win - 64-51 vs Texas Wesleyan on Feb. 2, 1987 (in Fort Worth, Texas)
300th win - 73-55 vs Nicholls State on Feb. 15, 1996
400th win - 67-63 at Louisiana Monroe on Feb. 1, 2003
500th win - 54-41 vs Texas A&M - Corpus Christi on Jan. 26, 2008
600th win - 65-58 vs Appalachian State on Feb. 13, 2016
700th win - 60-40 at Arkansas State on Feb. 26, 2021
750th win - 67-53 vs Utah Valley on Mar. 2, 2024
 
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: 32-34 (.485)
Overall: 753-738 (.505)
   
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 X (formally known as Twitter) (@UTAMavsWBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsWBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsWBB).