ARLINGTON, Texas – The UT Arlington women's basketball team (12-12, 8-6 WAC) return to the College Park Center for one game as they host UT Rio Grande Valley (5-17, 4-9 WAC) on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m. central time.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 14th overall meeting between the two programs, with their first matchup dating back to December of 1985. The Lady Mavs lead the overall series, 8 games to 5. This will be the second meeting of the season, with UTRGV getting the best of the Lady Mavs earlier in the year by a final score of 64-62. This will be the third meeting between the two teams in the College Park Center, with the Vaqueros holding a 2-0 record inside the CPC. UTA holds a 3-2 record at home. In conference play, UTA sports a 1-2 record.
SCOUTING UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY
The Vaqueros have a 1-3 record for the month of February, their lone win coming against Stephen F. Austin. Iyana Dorsey leads UTRGV in points per game, averaging 12.8 per contest. Kade Hackerott is 2nd in the WAC with 187 rebounds and leads the conference with 8.5 rebounds per game.
'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 75th. The Lady Mavs also have the best NET Strength of Schedule in the conference at 160. UTA also holds the 4th highest NET ranking (179) in the WAC, only behind Grand Canyon (85), California Baptist (132) and Stephen F. Austin (174).
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 (195 total and 8.1 RPG), in total assists (99), second on the team in blocks (27), in minutes played per game (29), and third on the team in offense (288 total points and 12.0 PPG). In 24 games, she has eight double-doubles and one triple-double. The eight double-doubles not only leads the team but the WAC, 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. In her previous three games, Adams has gone 11-of-17 from behind the arc.
On the season, Adams is the leading scorer for the Lady Mavs, averaging 13.9 points per game while also averaging 32 minutes played per game. Her 13.9 PPG is the 5th best mark in the WAC. 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 37 steals. Her 43.7 field goal percentage is 4th best in the WAC.
SHARPSHOOTER
Taliyah Clark is 2nd on the team with 12.5 points per game and is third on the squad with 3.9 rebounds per game. Her 1.79 three pointers per game is 8th 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 15 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 24 games played this year.
CRASH THE GLASS
The Lady Mavs average 36.12 rebounds per game, which is the 7th best mark in the WAC. They average 26.2 defensive rebounds per contest, which is the 3rd best mark in the conference. In the past 10 games, the Lady Mavs have outrebounded opponents in six of those 10 matchups.
Brittingham leads the conference with 195 total rebounds on the season, which has her 88th in the NCAA. Her 8.1 rebounds per game have her 2nd in the WAC and 96th 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 19.46 free throw attempts per game. This is the 56th 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 65th in the NCAA while their 71.1-percent from the charity stripe is the 5th best mark in the conference. Adams' 81.3-percent from the line is the 3rd best mark in the WAC.
THE FACILITATORS
The Lady Mavs are one of the best teams in the WAC when it comes to dishing out the rock. They average 15.2 assists per game which is the 3rd best mark in the WAC and the 64th best in the nation. Their assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.97 is the 4th best mark in the conference and 98
th best in the NCAA.
Adams is 5th in the WAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.54), has 77 assists on the season averaging 3.21 assists per game. Brittingham checks in at the top of the leaderboard in conference and 97th in the country in total assists with 99 on the year. She is 2nd in the WAC averaging 4.1 assists per game which also has her 107th overall in the NCAA.
Nya Threatt is third on the Lady Mavs with 66 assists on the season, averaging 2.75 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 4.0 blocks per game, which is tops in the WAC and 63rd overall in the NCAA. Valkova leads the charge with 38 blocks on the season, which is 1st in the conference and 54th in the NCAA. She averages 1.58 blocks per game which is 1st in the WAC and 66th overall in the country. Meanwhile Brittingham has 27 blocks on the season which is the 3rd best mark in the WAC. She averages 1.12 blocks per contest which is 4
th 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 59 wins and trails Krista Gerlich (121), Donna Capps (119), Connie Kelch (117), Mike Dean (115) and Samantha Morrow (74). Wright's .573 winning percentage is tied with Salser for the 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 101-67 overall record at the CPC. UTA seems to be at their best when playing in front of the home crowd.
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 hit the road once again, as they travel to Utah for a pair of games in the beehive state. First will be at Southern Utah on Wednesday, Feb. 21, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. central time. UTA ends the road trip at Utah Tech on Saturday, Feb. 24, with tipoff slated for 3 p.m. central time.
– #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).
