STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The UT Arlington women's basketball team (11-12, 7-6 WAC) will conclude a two-game road swing with a 7 p.m. matchup at Tarleton State (7-15, 4-9 WAC) inside Wisdom Gym on Thursday.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 19th overall meeting between the two programs, with their first matchup dating back to February of 1974. The Lady Mavs lead the overall series, 13 games to 5. This will be the second meeting of the season, with UTA getting the best of Tarleton earlier in the year by a final score of 73-49. The Lady Mavs currently ride a four-game winning streak in the series, with their last lost coming back in January of 1982. In conference play, UTA sports a perfect 3-0 record with a 5-2 record in Stephenville.
SCOUTING TARLETON STATE
The Texans come into the game dropping their last game against Seattle U, 61-57, and hold a 2-3 record in their past five games. Jakoriah Long leads the way for the Texans, averaging 11.8 points per contest and 28 minutes a game. She has 21 steals to pace the Texans defensively while dishing out 45 assists to lead Tarleton.
'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 78th. The Lady Mavs also have the best NET Strength of Schedule in the conference at 166. UTA also holds the 5th highest NET ranking (185) in the WAC, only behind Grand Canyon, California Baptist, Stephen F. Austin and Utah Tech.
ALL-AROUND HOOPER
Avery Brittingham has done a little bit of everything this season for the Lady Mavs. The senior out of Fort Worth leads the Lady Mavs in rebounding (189 total and 8.2 RPG), in total assists (97), second on the team in blocks (25), in minutes played per game (29), and third on the team in offense (275 total points and 12.0 PPG). In 23 games, she has eight double-doubles and one triple-double. The eight double-doubles not only leads the team but the WAC as well and has her 50th overall in the NCAA while the latter has her 6th in the NCAA and 2nd in the WAC. Her triple-double came against her former team, SFA. She has been 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 six weeks ago.
ADAMS BOMB
Lady Mavs junior guard
Gia Adams earned her second consecutive WAC Newcomer of the Week honors after averaging 21.0 points, 3.5 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 steal last week while going an impressive 7-of-12 from deep. She recorded 24 points, two rebounds, five assists and two steals against California Baptist. Adams then tallied 18 points, two rebounds and two assists against SFA.
On the season, Adams is the leading scorer for the Lady Mavs, averaging 13.6 points per game while also averaging 32 minutes played per game. She recently scored her 1000th career point, which came via a three pointer on the road at Grand Canyon. She is also 2nd on the team with 36 steals.
SHARPSHOOTER
Taliyah Clark is 2nd on the team with 12.8 points per game and is third on the squad with 4.0 rebounds per game. Her 1.87 three pointers per game is 6th best in the WAC. She leads UTA with 43 made three pointers on the season.
CZECH MATE
5th year transfer Adela Valkova has found her groove these past 14 games, posting double digits in all but four contests. Valkova is 4th on the team, averaging 9.6 points per game and is 2nd on the squad with 4.8 rebounds per game. Against Utah Tech, she grabbed her 100th rebound of the season. 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 10 games and has one block in all but six of the 22 games played this year.
CRASH THE GLASS
The Lady Mavs average 36.22 rebounds per game, which is the 6th best mark in the WAC.They average 26.3 defensive rebounds per contest, which is the 3rd best mark in the conference.
Brittingham leads the conference with 189 total rebounds on the season, which has her 87th in the NCAA. Her 8.2 rebounds per game have her 2nd in the WAC and 91st overall in the country.
IF IT'S FREE, IT'S FOR US
The Lady Mavs are one of the best teams in the country when it comes to getting to the free throw line, averaging 19.52 free throw attempts per game. This is the 55th best mark in the country and 2nd best in the WAC.
The 13.83 free throws made per game has the Lady Mavs 4th in the WAC and 67th in the NCAA while their 70.8-percent from the charity stripe is the 5th best mark in the conference.
THE FACILITATORS
The Lady Mavs are one of the best teams in the WAC when it comes to dishing out the rock. They average 15.3 assists per game which is the 3rd best mark in the WAC and the 62nd best in the nation. Their assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.97 is the 4th best mark in the conference and 93rd best in the NCAA.
Adams is 6th in the WAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.55), has 76 assists on the season and is 9th in the conference with 3.3 assists per game. Brittingham checks in at the top of the leaderboard in conference and 97th in the country in total assists with 98 on the year. She is 2nd in the WAC averaging 4.2 assists per game which also has her 98th overall in the NCAA.
Nya Threatt is third on the Lady Mavs with 63 assists on the season, averaging 2.74 assists a game. Threatt matched her career high and posted a season's best with seven assists last week versus CBU.
YOU'RE ALL INVITED TO THE BLOCK PARTY
The Lady Mavs average 3.8 blocks per game, which is tops in the WAC and 80th overall in the NCAA. Valkova leads the charge with 36 blocks on the season, which is 1st in the conference and 58th in the NCAA. She averages 1.57 blocks per game which is 1st in the WAC and 69th overall in the country. Meanwhile Brittingham has 25 blocks on the season, averaging 1.09 blocks per contest which is 6th best 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 Southern Utah, Wright now has 58 wins and trails Krista Gerlich (121), Donna Capps (119), Connie Kelch (117), Mike Dean (115) and Samantha Morrow (74). Wright's .569 winning percentage is the 3rd best in program history.
CONFERENCE U-S-WHO
The Lady Mavs took care of business during the non-conference slate against teams from Conference USA. In the inaugural WAC/CUSA Challenge, UTA went a perfect 2-0 when they defeated New Mexico State at home and Jacksonville State on the road. The Lady Mavs also defeated Sam Houston on the road, which was the start of UTA's season-high 7-game win streak.
NEXT UP
The Lady Mavs return home for one game when they host UT Rio Grande Valley on Saturday, Feb 17, at 2 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).
