ARLINGTON, Texas – Abilene Christian's Aspen Thornton has officially signed with the UT Arlington women's basketball program.
 
The 5-7 guard will join 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.
 
"We are elated to add Aspen to our Lady Mav family," UTA head coach Shereka Wright said. "She brings vocal leadership, and versatility to our team. Aspen has a competitive and winning mindset that will be valuable to our culture this season both on and off the court. Aspen's knowledge of the league, brings the additional experience needed to accomplish our goal bringing a WAC championship to Arlington."
 
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.
   
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 (@UTAMavsWBB), Instagram (@UTAMavsWBB) and Facebook (/UTAMavsWBB).