NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Following a heartbreaking two-point loss to California Baptist at home, the UT Arlington women's basketball team (10-12, 6-6 WAC) hit the road to Nacogdoches to take on a tough Stephen F. Austin team (15-8, 9-3 WAC) on Saturday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. from inside the William R. Johnson Coliseum.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 70th overall meeting between the two programs, with their first matchup dating back to March of 1975. The Lady Mavs trail in the overall series, 20 games to 49. This will be the second meeting of the season, with UTA getting the best of SFA earlier in the year by a final score of 81-62.
SCOUTING STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
The Ladyjacks are coming off a 62-49 loss at UTRGV on Thursday night. Defensively, Kyla Deck and Destini Lombard are both tied for 43rd in the nation in steals with 53 apiece. In addition, Deck ranks 21st in the nation in steals per game with 2.79 steals per game, while Lombard ranks 35th in the nation with a 2.36 assist/turnover ratio. Kurstyn Harden has been a knock down shooter all season for SFA as she ranks 35th in the nation in field goal percentage as she has shot 55.1% from the field for the season.
'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 80th. The Lady Mavs also have the best NET Strength of Schedule in the conference at 172. UTA also holds the 5th highest NET ranking (196) 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 (187 total and 8.5 RPG), in total assists (93), second on the team in blocks (22), in minutes played per game (30), and third on the team in offense (260 total points and 11.8 PPG). In 22 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 47th overall in the NCAA while the later 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 five weeks ago.
SCARY HOURS LIKE IN THE ADAMS FAMILY
Lady Mavs junior guard
Gia Adams earned WAC Newcomer of the Week honors after averaging 13.0 points, 5.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.0 steals last week. She recorded 14 points, five rebounds, eight assists and three steals against Southern Utah. Adams then tallied 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal against Utah Tech.
On the season, Adams is the leading scorer for the Lady Mavs, averaging 13.4 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 12.9 points per game and is third on the squad with 4.0 rebounds per game. Her 1.91 three pointers per game is 5th best in the WAC. She leads UTA with 42 made three pointers on the season.
CZECH MATE
5th year transfer Adela Valkova has found her groove these past 13 games, posting double digits in all but four contests. Valkova is 4th on the team, averaging 9.4 points per game and is 2nd on the squad with 4.7 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 36.27 rebounds per game, which is the 6th 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 187 total rebounds on the season, which has her 72nd in the NCAA. Her 8.5 rebounds per game have her at the top of the leaderboards in the WAC and 75th 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 19.18 free throw attempts per game. This is the 67th best mark in the country and 3rd best in the WAC.
The 13.55 free throws made per game has the Lady Mavs 4th in the WAC and 80th in the NCAA while their 70.6-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 15.4 assists per game which is the 3rd best mark in the WAC and the 61st best in the nation. Their assist-to-turnover ratio of 0.97 is the 3rd best mark in the conference and 94th best in the NCAA.
Adams is 7th in the WAC in assist/turnover ratio (1.57), has 74 assists on the season and is 8th in the conference with 3.4 assists per game. Brittingham checks in at the top of the leaderboard in conference and 92nd in the country in total assists with 93 on the year. She is 2nd in the WAC averaging 4.1 assists per game which also has her 98th overall in the NCAA.
Nya Threatt is third on the Lady Mavs with 60 assists on the season, averaging 2.73 assists a game. Threatt matched her career high and posted a season's best with seven assists last time out 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 90th overall in the NCAA. Valkova leads the charge with 34 blocks on the season, which is 1st in the conference and 62nd in the NCAA. She averages 1.55 blocks per game which is 1st in the WAC and 70th overall in the country. Meanwhile Brittingham has 22 blocks on the season, averaging a block 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 57 wins and trails Krista Gerlich (121), Donna Capps (119), Connie Kelch (117), Mike Dean (115) and Samantha Morrow (74). Wright's .564 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 stay on the road as they travel to Stephenville to take on Tarleton State on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m. inside Wisdom Gym.
– #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).
